Ghana Needs Surgical Operation…Economy Is In 'Serious Trouble'- Kweku Baako

“There is the need for structural transformation. Our fundamental problem is that our economy has a problem structurally. The more we industrialise the better for this country. Here we are an oil economy… it’s a very difficult situation and we have to be very careful…if care is not taken, very soon we may have to diverse this country…I think we are at this point because of mismanagement and poor leadership; institutional corruption. I am not reducing it to one person or a group of person… we can however change gov’t today and the problem will still haunt us” says Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako.
Speaking to the state of the economy as well as suggestions offered by the Economic Team of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the Mahama led administration, Kweku Baako said there is the need to put politics aside and find a lasting solution to the problems facing the country because they go beyond ‘an entity called government’.
The NPP led by Mr Yaw Osafo Maafo, former Finance minister, under the Kufuor-led NPP administration on Tuesday, outlined problems facing the country and suggested measures the Mahama led administration needs to adopt to bring change into the economy which to them (NPP) is in tatters.
Apart from that various organisations such as the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the World Bank and many more has also raised various concerns over the ‘bad’ state of the economy.
However, in response, government has indicated that the country is not in crisis as being suggested by the NPP and the other groups.
Contributing to panel discussions on Wednesday, Kweku Baako stated that ‘it will be self-denial to say the economy is not in trouble’.
“The concerns show the economy is in some serious trouble; you can take the NPP out as a political party but TUC, World Bank and other sectors have expressed different concerns in different aspects of the economy. Even if you put aside the statement of the NPP, you can’t deny that the economy is in bad shape. It will be self-denial if we say the economy is not in trouble…I think the challenges are huge. A lot more people are talking and complaining about the state of the economy and so there is no need to pretend everything is smooth sailing. Contractors complaining, National Health Insurance, water crisis, electricity, that is not an economy or a nation that is doing well; there is the need for us to do more than we are doing…” he asserted.
He added that there is the need for attitudinal change because even if solutions are found to the existing problems and those in government are still corrupt, those challenges will linger on.
“The country needs a surgical operation… Corruption is pervasive out there. We can change government tomorrow and if we are not careful this same thing will come to lead us…if all these things are done and we don’t get attitudinal change, nothing will change…there are many areas of our state structure that is sick,” he articulated.
 
Source: Peacefmonline