Celebrated entrepreneur and Chairman of the Kama Group, Dr Michael Agyekum Addo has re-echoed the harsh economic realities being endured by Ghanaians and says the times are indeed hard.

The self-made business champion, now in his 70s, says his pension plans have been scuttled by the government’s banking sector clean-up, and his savings for over 30 years to take care of him in his old age are all gone.

Now the Kama boss says he has problems with his overheads, because either the Ghana Revenue Authority is chasing him or the Electricity Company of Ghana is in to disconnect his power.

In a viral video captured of him speaking at a book launch, the man whose life story has been banked as symbolic of persons known to have overcome adversity, says the times are indeed hard, capping his narration in the Akan word, ‘YƐƐbrƐ oo’, to wit, we are indeed suffering.

“I am a ‘pensioneer’ (sic) and all my money I must confess - I know I'm on air - the money that I saved to take care of my pension time has been taken over by the banking clean-up. So I don't have my money to support such a wonderful book. And if I tell you how much that I saved for over 30 years to take care of my position now, you would weep for me. I have one of the best pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, WHO standard in Tema. But because my money has been locked up and they cannot give it to me, I'm having problems with my overheads. I'm telling you, either GRA is on your neck or Electricity Company has come to put off your light. ‘YƐƐbrƐ oo’.

Dr Michael Agyekum Addo’s uncommon story, from his early beginnings at Suhyen near Koforidua, to his stardom status as a successful brand and indigenous champion is well documented at various fronts.

In 2022 and at age 72, Michael Addo earned a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from the University of Ghana in his quest to understand what was collapsing businesses in Ghana and to emphasise the fact that “Education is not a race, you can get it at any time and anywhere in your life.”

“If at 72 I have been able to write about a 400-paged thesis and defended it successfully, every young person should be able to achieve this,” said the man who had previously been decorated with an honorary doctorate degree by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 2005.