Tema-Ghana, Feb. 23, CDA Consult – The government lacks the financial discipline to revamp the economy and the only way out of the economic decadency is to fight crime and ensure value for money the Reverend Dr Samuel Worlanyo Mensah who is an economist has stated.
The economist noted that “if embezzlement, misapplication of public funds and mismanagement does not end all the solutions and efforts to revamp the economy was going to be an action in futility”.
He, therefore, advised the government to empower anti-corruption agencies to function properly to fight corruption as that was the only solution to the economic problem.
Rev. Dr Mensah said this when addressing some economic-related issues in Ghana when the Centre appeared on the Ghana News Agency, Tema Industrial News Hub Boardroom Dialogue platform.
He stated that the government’s strategies towards obtaining cancellation of its debts could be likened to that of a Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) methodology which is anachronistic.
The Economist said Ghana could only appeal to its creditors to cancel its debt due to the current economic crises adding that such cancellation was what helped the country when former President John Agyekum Kufuor declared the country as HIPC.
Rev. Dr. Mensah said Ghana could not be declared HIPC again because, it has been less than 20 years since the nation came out of the programme, and that was part of its conditionality.
The Economist also stressed that it was not enough for Ghana to always run to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout as that could not solve Ghana’s perineal economic hardships.
Rev. Dr Mensah who is the Executive Director of the Centre for Greater Impact Africa said even though Ghana does not qualify to be declared as a HIPC state due to its lower middle-income status since 2010, the strategies being adopted by the government were those associated with HIPC countries.
He revealed that Ghana has many corrupt systems that gave birth to dishonest practices and no amount of money given to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies would be applied for its purpose.
Rev. Dr. Mensah noted that the Auditor General’s report for the past 15 years after coming out of the HIPC programme, showed that funds had been misappropriated more than the bailout the country was seeking from the IMF.
