A Senior Research Fellow at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD), Professor Vladimir Antwi-Danso, has asked the government to prudently use the International Monetary Fund (IMF) package to address the country’s economic challenges.
According to him, Ghana’s decision to run to the IMF for economic bailout was as a result of bad economic policies and excessive government expenditure, a situation he said could repeat itself if measures were not put in place to address them.
Speaking at a public lecture in Accra on Wednesday, Prof Antwi-Danso said, “until the government cuts down on the imprudent areas, especially excessive spending and also put in place measures to deal with corruption, the IMF interventions will not resurrect the country’s economy.”
Public lecture
The lecture, organised by the People’s National Convention (PNC), was to commemorate the swearing in of Dr Hilla Limann as the President of the third Republic of Ghana in 1979.
The three-hour event, which was on the theme: “The Limann We Know”, brought together key members of the PNC, including the party’s chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan and its 2012 presidential candidate, Hassan Ayariga.
The occasion was graced by the Chairperson of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Ms Samia Yaba Nkrumah, and the widow of Dr Limann, Mrs Fulera Limann.
Government policies
According to Prof Antwi-Danso, government policies, for the past years, had failed to yield any positive results on the economy, particularly on the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian.
“Unfortunately in Ghana, government policies are made by small executives in a room and forced on the throat of the larger community,” he said.
Prof Antwi-Danso observed that although the government had opted for the three-year IMF programme to address the economic challenges, there was more to be done if Ghana’s economy was to swing back.
“ The government must start to deal with internal administrative problems and remove any barrier that poses a threat to the development of the economy,” he said.
Limann’s leadership
Touching on some of the exceptional leadership skills exhibited by Dr Limann, Prof Antwi-Danso said the former president did well to lead an “all-inclusive government where he allowed institutions to work without interfering in their affairs.”
“Unfortunately, our leaders have abandoned this unique style and rather resorted to intervening in the running of affairs and governance at the institutional level. This has led to corruption and judgement debts through fraudulent acts,” he said.
Prof Antwi-Danso blamed the media partly for the current state of the country’s governance, saying that “the media have deviated from their core mandate and are now doing the bidding of governments.”
Dr Limann’s wife
Mrs Limann lauded the leadership of the PNC for instituting a day to honour her husband and called for unity in the party to continue the legacy of Dr Limann.
According to her, the PNC could become a strong and formidable party if the grass-roots and the leadership would team up and build the pillars within the party.
Mrs Limann described her husband as a man of peace, unity and one who involved all in the building of the nation, adding that those attributes continued to distinguish him from other leaders in the country.
