Professor Ransford Gyampo, a political scientist at the University of Ghana, has lamented the plight of the country's economy.
Prof. Gyampo's reaction follows the Finance Minister's announcement last Thursday of austerity measures to help citizens cope with the current economic crisis.
The government's decision to borrow $2 billion to assist stabilize the sinking local currency was questioned by the Political Scientist.
"It's pretty troublesome to borrow $ 2 billion to implement a single action that will contribute to earning $ 3.6 billion," he remarked.
In an open letter, he stated that the government has failed miserably in its efforts to create adequate revenue from the country's vast resources. "We have a lot of money and a lot of resources; the problem is that the political elites aren't thinking about how to properly raise them." Why are we only getting 5% of our mineral resources, rather than 50% or 60% as is the case elsewhere? He questioned, "Why are we only getting roughly 13 percent of our oil profits, rather than 60 percent?"
He also questioned why the administration is unable to generate sufficient revenue from the country's resources.
"What prevents today's political elites from renegotiating such agreements in order to increase our earnings from natural resources used on our own land for the development of other people's countries?"
Instead of the government's never-ending campaign to approve the E-levy, he believes it should renegotiate accords.
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