The Executive Director at the Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Benjamin Boakye says the laid-back attitude of Ghanaians when it comes to the governance of the country is partly responsible for the current economic crisis.

This according to the Energy Governance Professional is because people were interested in minding their business instead of being tough on government and demanding accountability.

Speaking at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Breakfast meeting at the Labadi Beach Hotel, Mr Boakye said it is important for citizens to take an interest in policies and ensure that governance works for the people.

“Where we are today is not just the doing of the government, it is the doing of all of us because when it was happening, we saw it happening and we saw the poor decisions being taken and we knew that those decisions were going to land us somewhere.

"We were writing about it, we were saying them, but maybe we could have been extra tough on our demands to ensure that governance was working for the people. We were all watching.

"Only to realise that if you were a banker, you are an industrialist, you are a producer of any commodity, it is not enough to say I am minding my business because when the haircuts are coming, they are not selective.

"Whether you worked and put your pension in government investment or not.. the haircut will hit you and therefore ensuring that governance works for the people, and works for businesses is the job for all of us to do.

"We have to now ask questions and insist that governance works. What do we do with the borrowing?” he stressed.

Again, Mr Boakye added that while the citizens have a role to play, government must meet the people halfway and be ready to do the heavy lifting.

He explained that, with the debt structuring programme still ongoing and a deal reached between government and IMF, people must expect more hardship in the coming months before the light at the end of the tunnel.

 “We can’t afford to let our country fail and therefore we have to take the hard decisions for ourselves and for our country and to ensure that we pull through this challenge.

"The reality is that we have to change our lifestyles, we have to adjust and most importantly we have to psychologically programme ourselves for a period of difficult situations to come. Inflation above 40% is not going to go away overnight.

"So it tells you that if it stays another year, you should expect to pay 40% more than you are paying today for the things that you so cherish and desire.

"Where that money will come from is your own economics.

"We know that per the IMF programme if you read it carefully, you will know inflation has been programmed into it. And it is going to happen because IMF says that we need to have a cost-reflective tariff, which means it is only government and IMF that knows and this means that they are going to be adjusting the tariff until they meet that cost-reflective tariff.

"And once they keep adjusting it, electricity and water and everything is impacted."