National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Akwatia in the Eastern region, Baba Jamal has given a 24 hour ultimatum to the vice presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to provide evidence on claims that the NDC government has engaged in excessive borrowing over the past seven years.
The former deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana was replying President Mahama, who insists his administration has borrowed $24 million since January 2009, and not the $37 million the opposition NPP claim is real debt racked up.
“Our President, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, has recently made statements about Ghana’s public debt stock, the most recent being yesterday (Tuesday). Those statements clearly show that President needs a bit more briefing about Ghana’s public debt stock,” Dr Bawumia told students of the Jasikan College of Education in the Volta region on Wednesday.
He added: “In the last seven years alone under this NDC government, Ghana’s total debt has ballooned from GH¢9.5 billion to a projected GH¢99 billion by the end of 2015! What is clear is that 90% (i.e. GHC89.5 billion) of Ghana’s total debt since independence has been accumulated under this NDC government between 2009-2015 i.e. the last seven years.”
However, the Akwatia MP. who is also deputy minister for Employment and Labour Relations, disagrees with the figure, although he concedes the Mahama administration, which came to power with the pledge of making life better for the ordinary man on the street, needed to borrow to fulfill the pledge “but not as excessive as Bawumia is stating”.
“I’ve given him (Bawumia) only 24 hour to bring evidence and explain to Ghanaians how he arrived at such an outrageous amount” he said. Baba Jamal claims the NDC government is making proper use of the loans government has secured.
His colleague MP for Efutu Constituency in the Central Region, Alex Afenyo Markin has advised meanwhile asked Baba Jamal to stop confusing Ghanaians with rhetoric.
“Bawumia and Nana Addo know what they are about and so Baba Jamal should stop confusing Ghanaians, because the NDC government only came to power to deceive Ghanaians and make us uncomfortable” he asserted.
He called on Ghanaians to give Nana Akufo-Addo the nod in 2016 to halt the slide in the quality of life.
Source: Adom News
