Akufo-Addo Responds to Critics Over COVID Expenditure.
President Akufo-Addo has defended the government's ongoing borrowing and spending in the face of current economic challenges.
Recent critics have blamed President Akufo-Addo solely for the country's current economic crisis. According to NDC MP for Yapei-Kusaugu John Jinapor, the crisis is the result of his government's unprecedented and reckless borrowings.
But in a sharp response, the President said his government has done nothing but spend money on "things that are urgent".
"We have not been rash in borrowing or spending. It is worth noting that the debts we are servicing were not only contracted during the period of this administration", Mr Akufo-Addo said while delivering the State of the Nation Address on Wednesday (8 March 2023) stressing that: "We have spent money on building roads and bridges and schools, training our young people and equipping them to face a competitive world.
"Considering the amount of work that remains to be done on the state of our roads, the bridges that must be built, the number of classrooms that must be built, the furniture and equipment required at all levels of education, considering the number of children who should be in school but are not, considering the number of towns and villages that still lack access to safe drinking water."
"I dare say no one can say we overborrowed or spent irresponsibly," he added.
He admitted that he was rushed to get things done, but he is proud of the amount of work he has completed, particularly in the road sector.
"This includes massive developments in agriculture, education, health, irrigation, roads, rails, ports, airports, sea defence, digitisation, social protection programmes, industrialisation and tourism. We can be justifiably proud of how much we have accomplished in the last six (6) years."
"As I go around the country, I hear the pleas for roads, schools, hospitals, and, as the rainy season comes, I wish, as every other Ghanaian does, that we would have built more drains than we have. And I wish we had more resources to help. Members of Parliament ask the most questions about roads in this House; a large portion of the money we borrow is for road construction. "Do we dare to stop building roads?" he inquired.
The President went on to say that his administration has built more roads than any other in the history of the Fourth Republic.
"Details on all of these roads are attached as an annexe to this message. I did so because, last year, when I made a similar pronouncement, I was met with howls and gasps of incredulity from the Minority benches, and so I thought it appropriate, this time, to present it as an annexe to the Statement, which will be part of Hansard.”
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