Felix Kwakye Ofosu, an aide to ex-President John Dramani Mahama, has lauded the achievements of the former President during his tenure.
In an interview with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Citi TV’s Face to Face, Kwakye Ofosu highlighted the significant infrastructural developments made under Mahama’s leadership compared to the current administration’s seven-year term.
When comparing Mahama‘s administration to Akufo-Addo‘s tenure, Kwakye Ofosu argued that conditions were notably better under the former President than what Ghanaians are currently experiencing.
He maintained that former President Mahama outperformed the NPP government in every performance metric.
“Our debt was manageable, we were not bankrupt as an economy, and other indices showed that things were not as bad as we have now. As of 2016, when he [Mahama] was leaving office, the country was in much better shape.
“If you look at all sectors of the economy, he has made massive investments to ensure that Ghanaian children have access to education. If you look at health, people still credit him [Mahama] for how we were able to survive COVID-19. But for the investments that he made in the expansive health infrastructure, there was no way we were going to weather the storm, so far as COVID-19 was concerned.
“We have had perennial power difficulty which lasted for decades, we had experienced power outages in the 80s, it happened in the 90s, early 200s under former President J.A Kufour. He took a bold step to ensure that he put in the investments to curtail that difficulty. And made it impossible for generation capacity to be a reason why we would go into power outages.
“Look at the communication sector, water, ICT space. By the time [former] President Mahama left office, 76% of Ghanaians had access to potable water, and that figure has dipped. Because this government has failed to replicate that kind of investment. In almost every sector of our national lives, things were much better than we have today.”
He pointed out that Mr. Mahama acted promptly in dismissing his appointees accused of corruption, while President Akufo-Addo consistently shields his corrupt appointees.
“His [Mahama’s] worst performance in the corruption perception index is better than the best performance of this government. If you look at his proactivity, the zeal at which he went after the people who were alleged to be corrupt under him. You remember the stalwart of NDC, Abuga Pele’s case, in many ways, he was a friend to former President Mahama, but he didn’t hesitate to put him out before the court when allegations of graft were made against him.
“You saw the swiftness in which he acted in Victora Hammah’s case… he immediately fired her, that has not been the case of this current government. President Akufo-Addo has been all too willing to shield corruption appointees.
“He made it impossible for the anti-corruption bodies to do meaningful work, because he prejudices the outcome of an investigation, and he has flatly refused to punish persons who are known to have engaged in corruption. So, there’s no basis for comparison between the NPP and anything former president Mahama did while in office. Former President Mahama on every important indicator completely outperformed the NPP government.”