The flagbearer of the Progressive Alliance for Ghana (PAG), Dr John Enyonam Kpikpi, has raised concerns about the 2027 Budget presented by Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, questioning whether the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) can deliver the economic transformation Ghana needs.
Dr Kpikpi argues that both parties have had nearly 34 years of political control since the return to constitutional rule in 1992 but have struggled to establish some of the country's most basic economic foundations.
In his response to the budget, the PAG flagbearer questioned why the two dominant political parties should be trusted to deliver food self-sufficiency after decades of governing the country without establishing a comprehensive and sustainable national plan to achieve it.
Beyond agriculture, the PAG flagbearer questioned the government's renewed commitment to mineral value addition, particularly in light of the controversy surrounding Ghana's lithium resources.
He said successive governments had not heeded calls for a stronger lithium agreement that would ensure the country retained a greater share of the economic benefits through local processing, value addition and participation.
"They rejected very strong calls not to throw away our lithium deposits to foreigners without value addition and a better contract that would retain the wealth here for the benefit of our peoples. They threw away our lithium anyway," he said.
He questioned what had changed within the political establishment to make mineral value addition a major economic priority barely 12 months after, in his assessment, the country had missed an opportunity to secure a better deal for its lithium resources. "Which light have they seen only 12 months later that is making them now talk about a mineral value addition economy?" he asked.
Dr Kpikpi maintained that Ghana's natural resources had been compromised across successive administrations, arguing that the same political parties responsible for the country's resource management decisions could not be relied upon to deliver a fundamentally different economic direction.
"They are too deep into the bad old ways to be able to make any positive changes. All they have said will end at the talking stage; it cannot be implemented given the depth of their compromise," he declared.
The PAG flagbearer consequently argued that Ghana's economic challenges require a departure from the traditional NDC-NPP political contest rather than another round of promises from the two parties. "We cannot build a new economy with the old compromised parties and personnel," he stressed.
He called for a new generation of political leadership driven by integrity, fresh ideas and a commitment to ensuring that Ghana's natural and economic resources work for the benefit of its people. "We need new people to usher in the new transformations for our nation," Dr Kpikpi stated. He presented the PAG as the political alternative capable of delivering that change, declaring: "This is Dr John Kpikpi and the PAG Government!"
