A professor of Finance and Economics at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) Prof Godfred Bokpin, has sharply criticized the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) for its failure to prudently manage the Ghanaian economy saying the party, which is perceived to have been established on the foundation of knowledge with knowledgeable people has failed to transform that into development.

Prof. Bokpin, while contributing to a discussion on the Super Morning Show on Joy FM on Tuesday, November 19, about the rising cost of food and services and its debilitating effect on the citizenry, cast a damning verdict on the NPP’s management of the economy amid high inflation, cedi depreciation and a debt restructuring that has affected many.

He pooh-poohed the government’s claim of economic recovery arguing that inflation at 22% is still not the best according to global standards.

“With the recovery, the government is celebrating, when you look at the measures the IMF [International Monetary Fund] programme is implementing together with the government’s measures, we’re actually compromising our medium to long-term survivability for short-term praise. We treasure short-term praise and therefore we’re undermining the long-term growth potential for short-term praise. By far, this is the most expensive and pricey economic recovery in our history since independence” he noted.

Between October last year and October this year, prices on average have risen by 22.1%, you cannot celebrate this. It will only take average people to celebrate this average as outstanding. By world standards, it is still very high. What can you do in an economy with an inflation of 22% when the Cedi has lost more than 25% of its assigned value from the beginning of the year? So it’s even difficult planning “he lamented.

While Prof Bokpin believes that restoring the Ghanaian economy could take up to fifteen years only if prudent measures are employed consistently in the way the country is governed, he expects the next government to present credible leadership to lay the foundation for a full economic recovery.

Nonetheless, he noted that there wouldn’t be any significant changes in the current economy regardless of who wins the next election on December 7, 2024.

“Whoever wins this election is going to face significant challenges because we don’t have the fiscal space. In fact, no institution in Ghana gives hope that is well-managed and that we can use it as a starting point. There’s not any. Not the central bank with a worthless balance sheet, not ECG [Electricity Company of Ghana] and the rest of them.”

“But what will be needful, would be the next government putting a credible leadership on the table that will generate hope and confidence and say that, we have seen the deficiencies, we are building forward better, this is our promise and this is the leadership on the table.”

He said effective leadership in both public and private sectors, as well as patience, would make the difference the country needs to recover from the economic downturn.

“I am not expecting any serious party that will win this year’s election to assemble a government size of more than 40 ministers. Then you’re not serious and you’re not sympathizing with the people because the point is that we don’t have the fiscal space, so we have to adopt a lean low-cost efficient approach to delivering public service. It will not happen in a year.

“Let’s bear in mind that economic transformation, at minimum, will not take us less than fifteen years of doing the right things consistently. Not just two years, and two years off. That is where you will see the effect of leadership through good governance and then economic growth and economic development and sustainable development manifesting in the lives of ordinary Ghanaians.

“Without the appreciation of this, our democracy of four-year term and all of that really does not allow us to put in place measures that will bear medium to long-term effects.
The finance and economics professor did not hide his disappointment in the New Patriotic Party’s management of the country.

“A nation should not take its people through this. This is an indictment of leadership, and I am a bit disappointed in the NPP. And let me say this, I want to ask Ghanaians to forgive me in advance.

“If you look at the assembly of the NPP and the intelligence, and knowledge base of the party, typically you could say that the NPP holds the birthright to Ghana’s economic management. How do you deliver something like this on the table? Are we not ashamed? For all that we know, for all that we have studied, for God’s sake. And we have travelled, we have seen what has been happening elsewhere. Haven’t we been to Tokyo, haven’t we been to Singapore, haven’t we been to the UK? Haven’t we seen things and how they’ve made life user-friendly for their people? So why do we do exactly the opposite here?

Referencing a Biblical quotation in Hosea 4:6, Prof. Bokpin concluded that Ghana’s downward spiral had nothing to do with a lack of knowledge.

“Ghana is perishing not because of lack of knowledge. We’re perishing out of willful acts because we don’t love one another. You may know so much, but if you don’t mean well for people, your knowledge will deliver less outcome. What we’re seeing here is wickedness. Exactly what Ghanaians went through during the slave trade – To the extent that there were some people who were benefiting from the slave trade, it was okay for it to continue while the majority looked on.

This is what we’ve done to ourselves. For any Ghanaian who’s in any position, all that he or she is looking out for is how they can protect their interest, their family and probably friends for the foreseeable future. It’s not about how they can leave a legacy for people to be happy. What are we leaving behind for the next generation? Should the next generation feel sorry that we came ahead of them?

Look at what we are doing to our water bodies. Do we expect the World Bank and the IMF to come and tell us that we need to manage our environment well? Come on…Why are we giving evidence to the fact that the black race is just incapable” he quizzed.