Features
Bawumia and Ghana economy
Before the recent lecture on the economy of Ghana Dr Bawumia delivered, some people, including senior lecturers and professors, had expressed various views (positively and negatively) on the state of country’s economy.
Since the lecture given by the Vice President of the Republic, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, various opinions have been expressed on his presentation, some of them praising him for a good work done while others, as usual, saw nothing good about what he said or the issues discussed on that day.
PUBLIC REACTIONS
The reaction of the general public, however, showed that in spite of the difficulties the country faced, the Vice President and Head of Ghana’s economic team did well and dealt with all the relevant issues the country is facing.
He began by stating that he was going to deal with the state of the economy, pointing out that there were problems or difficulties but measures had been put in place to ensure that the economy of Ghana was cushioned soundly from collapse.
In talking about the state of the economy, Dr. Bawumia referred to the economic problems Ghana as a country faced prior to the swearing-in of President Akufo-Addo. He went on to explain that in spite of the difficulties, measures were in place to ensure reduction in inflation, elimination of a number of taxes, developing the economy along internally induced growth, among others.
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS
The economy of Ghana today faces a number of problems including rising prices of goods and services. The rising prices have come about because of the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected every part of the world. Indeed, goods cannot be easily transported from different parts of the world to other places where they are needed thereby bringing about shortages in some cases.
Generally, the supply of goods and services have been in short supply but even in situations where such goods and services are not in short supply, it can be seen that the cost of transportation alone has shot up tremendously.
COST PUSH AND DEMAMD PULL INFLATION
This high cost of transportation accounts for rising prices, that is, cost push inflation. In cost push inflation, rising prices of transportation when added to the prices of goods and services further push up prices.
Similarly, in situations where the supply of goods and services are less than expected or fall below general demand, what happens is that demand exceeds supply and pushes up prices. This comes under what is known as “demand pull inflation.”
Both demand pull and cost push inflation are responsible for the rising prices in the country. From this observation, one can say that the unfavourable economic situation in the country, in the form of rising prices, is not the making of the Akufo-Addo administration. The situation has come about because of factors beyond the reach of all Ghanaians.
All countries in the world are going through difficult economic times so this is the period for all analysts to be objective and fair in their discussion of issues in Ghana today. We should be very grateful that the economic management style of the government has not thrown things overboard but rather made it possible for the people of Ghana to go about their normal duties, even in the midst of some difficulties.
COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Until the world, including Ghana, was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, things were moving on smoothly in Ghana. Inflation, which was initially at 15.4 per cent or thereabout was reduced to about seven per cent. Similarly, agricultural output also increased tremendously from negative levels to appreciable levels even though there was still room for improvement.
With the arrival of COVID-19,everything was thrown overboard and countries that did not have resilient economies fell onto great trouble and experienced food shortages. Fortunately, due to Ghana’s laudable programmes such as Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJs), the country became self-sufficient and even exported food items to neighbouring countries like Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and Côte d’ivoire among other countries. Had it not been for this programme, things would’ve been worse than we see today.
We have food stuffs all over the country but there is room for improvement in the sense that we need to construct more roads to link up with communities that are producing food for the country. Without this, not much can be achieved in terms of food production. A network of good roads is, therefore, needed in all parts of the country to enhance agricultural production.
At the same time, we need to regulate the supply and export of our food stuffs to neighbouring countries so that Ghanaians will also not run out of food supplies. Fortunately, the Government of Ghana had realised this and banned the export of maize and soya to neighbouring countries until the situation improves in Ghana. It is equally important to note that the economic problems experienced in the world today have come about because of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Many finished products come from that part of the world. The products are fertilisers and other important products needed in the agricultural sector.
ADVERSE CONFLICT
The conflict has, therefore, contributed adversely to other parts of the world including Ghana.
We are happy that the economy of Ghana is able to support itself today and is far from collapse.
With the pandemic moving away, it is strongly believed that all the economic programmes and measures put in place would begin to yield results needed and make the economy a strong one. This means that there will be reduced inflation and more income can be generated from various sectors of the economy to finance its expenditure. Similarly, we can also reduce the rate of exchange with other foreign currencies to make the economy a strong one. Individuals should have confidence in the economy of Ghana and believe in what was presented by Dr. Bawumia
From all indications, the measures taken by Ghana are good and that is why the developed countries of the world have expressed confidence in the economy of Ghana.
DIGITALISATION
Digitalisation is good if for nothing at all, it helps to eradicate corruption and make it easy for goods and services to be accessed without difficulty. For this reason, digitisation coupled with the relevant economic policies will go a long way to enhance rapid growth in all parts of the country so that the ultimate result will be improved upon in the interest of everyone.
Ghana is a great nation so we all need to work hard and support the government to make it possible for economic activities to flourish and improve upon the welfare of everyone in this noble country.
Contact email/whatsApp address of author:
Pradmat2013@gmail.com (0553318911)
By Dr Kofi Amponsah-Bediako
THE journalist is a hunter. He goes after human rats and grasscutters personified, matters about whom he can salt and spice and present as news. The fatter and juicier the catch, the better, because sensation is essentially our cup of tea.
Our job is to sell news and sell it in grand style.
Because the journalist is a hunter and is created with a special kind of nose for sniffing out news, he is usually not welcome in many places. He is seen as someone who has been born to make people uncomfortable.
The problem is that some people don’t want things written about them even if it is promotional and favourable. When it entails publishing their pictures alongside the story, they are doubly scared.
“Please, don’t use my picture. People will think I’ve got money and come for loan,” someone told me.
Anyhow, journalists are seen as intruders, undesirables, born with plenty of okro in the mouth; maybe some also in the nose. Some of my friends are no longer too close because they fear I’d give them full coverage in the Sikaman Palava column. Ha ha ha! What a funny world!
Well, people like my Uncle, Sir Kofi Jogolo, my former classmate and born-mathematician, Kwame Korkorti, and ex-football star cum human-salamander Kofi Kokotako don’t mind featuring in the hilarious inches of this column. Kofi Owuo alias Death By Poverty is one personality who has to be mentioned in this palaver.
These are people who are going to live long, primarily because they see the world as one big ball of fun. When Kwame Korkorti was told that his dear mother was dead at home, he smiled and asked the bearer of the message whether his mother had cooked the afternoon meal before claiming she was dead. Until her death, Korkorti ate his lunch at his mother’s end.
When my Uncle Kofi Jogolo was picked and lost 1,500 dollars and a good amount of Sikaman currency, he didn’t lament the loss. Instead he was amused. In fact, he was almost glad about it, because he grinned from ear to ear, stroked his delicate moustache and congratulated the thief, adding that “He is smarter than I am.” Yeah, Jogolo is the man who employs a Swedish barber to trim his moustache.
And when Kofi Kokotako was unemployed and was nearly hit by an articulated truck, he called the driver a fool. “The idiot should have killed me,” he said to me. “Didn’t he know I was unemployed and suffering?”
Today, Kokotako is employed as a Reverend and is not doing badly at all. Thanks to the regular silver collection.
And what about Kofi Owuo, the celebrated poor man. His wife left him not because he was poor, but because he swore in front of her that he would never prosper.
The following dawn the wife packed bag and baggage and went back to her parents and told them all about her husband’s alliance with poverty. Her parents were bewildered and called the alliance unholy. They had no option than to send back Owuo’s drinks to end the marriage.
Kofi Owuo alias Death By Poverty did not contest the issue. He was more engrossed thinking about how to become poorer than to contest what he called a frivolous matter. The wife could go to hell, he said. These are people longevity smiles upon. Nothing worries them.
Getting back to talking about journalists. I’d say that anywhere there is journalism, the issue of press freedom is not too far away. Is the press free? That’s one question foreigners want answer to when they are on visit.
Well, journalists celebrate a yearly WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY to drum home the idea of press freedom as a very important thing in the practice of journalism.
This year’s was celebrated almost a fortnight ago but people didn’t see much of us because we are normally not good celebrants. We should have mounted a float to roam the entire capital, dancing asaboni to brass band music just like PTC did recently.
Although journalists are known to be very good dancers because they walk very much, on that day, they were all busy writing. It was the Minister of Information, Mr Kofi Totobi Quakyi who saved the day by addressing a forum organised to mark the day.
He is a man I’ve always admired since his radical university days. He spoke much on press freedom, cautioning the press not to abuse the freedom granted by the Fourth Republican constitution, but to use it for the progress of society.
Well, press freedom has been defined by many journalists as the freedom to ‘write nonsense’. This definition is not quite accurate. I asked one staff reporter to define press freedom. It took him fifteen minutes to put up something.
“Press freedom is the freedom that is enjoyed by the press that enables journalists to publish or broadcast any kind of material so long as it is absolutely true, is not libelous and slanderous, and is not against the national interest.”
I gave him eight out of 10, a straight A. I guess every journalist is old enough to know that certain things he or she writes is for or against the national interest. We certainly must guard against writing against the national interest; that is very important.
There is also the question of criticising government. The government can be criticized, so long as the criticisms are genuine and the President and his ministers are not insulted and called names. Let us criticize, but let us do it decently so that the journalistic profession can be revered, and its nobility acknowledged. We are not war mongers, are we?
One area in which journalists are not spoken well of is the complaint that they misquote people. Journalists sometimes misquote people, but in four out of five complaints it turns out that nobody is misquoted after all.
When we interview people they say things unreservedly and we publish unreservedly. When the publication is out and their friends or superiors read it and accuse them of having said too much to the press, then they start claiming they were misquoted.
We have encountered these ‘misquotation palaver’ every now and then and reporters are usually accused of this transgression. However, when they bring out their note-books or recorders, it is realised that they wrote nothing out of the way. “Book no lie”.
My advice to people who deal with the press is that if they do not want anything written, they shouldn’t say it. What they want to say is OFF-RECORD, then of course, there is no reason to say it. When you say it, you’re taking a risk. In that instance, you can’t also claim to have been misquoted or words put into your mouth.
And it isn’t every journalist who would be circumspect in matters that are supposed to be off-record, because journalists often want to be as sensational as possible to make their stories saleable. So say just what you want to see published and you won’t later regret it and claim you were misquoted.
Well, I’m not holding brief for journalists, because a few of us are notorious for colouring our reports sometimes sand-papering the words so much that they look very bright in front of readers.
As I once said, when the police tells one such notorious pressman that the thief stole a brown goat, the pressman would want to know whether the goat was bearded. Of course, the police would say ‘Yes’.
However, in the press report, it appears, “A gang of notorious goat-thieves were apprehended in the early hours of yesterday. In the car in which they were riding was a brownish-red goat having a long beard. Upon further examination, it was realised that the goat also had a greyish moustache.”
When the story appears, the police are naturally disturbed. A single thief turns out to be a gang of thieves. The goat also becomes a chameleon and changes colour to brownish-red. And a moustacheless goat overnight wears a greyish moustache whether you like it or not. Luckily the journalist does not add that the moustache was trimmed by a Swedish barber.
Yes, we have a few of such mischief-creating, chronically notorious journalists. But they are one in a hundred. In any case, we make the world. And we shall always do our best to make it a happy place to live in.
This article was first publish on Saturday, May, 20, 1995
When I hear of people who are of the opinion that they cannot make it in life unless they travel abroad, l become sad.
Whenever I see on TV, news of people, that is migrants who have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, while attempting to cross to Europe, l become filled with sadness and then anger.
The underlying factor is desperation born out of loss of hope, in life. When an individual tends to believe that his only hope of making it in life is to travel abroad, the risk of dying at sea, does not deter him or her.
The role of some pastors on shaping the mindset of people, especially the youth, leaves much to be desired. You hear them declaring on various media platforms how they can pray for you to get a visa to travel abroad, instead of encouraging them to find something to do to improve their lives as the Bible teaches that God will bless the work of their hands.
The GREATER WORKS CONFERENCE is geared towards renewing the minds of people with a specific focus on people of African descent to rid themselves of the negative perception of lack of capacity to excel in life.
Pastor Mensa Otabil believes that every human being, no matter the skin colour, was created in the exact image of God and therefore has the capacity to do exploits.
The whiteman was not created in the image of God while the Blackman was created in the image of something other than God. The Black person therefore can achieve whatever the whiteman can achieve.
The development in terms of industrialisation that is lacking which has generated unemployment for the youth, is due to lack of effective leadership. The lack of moral integrity in society, is what is causing the lack of job opportunities, which is as a result of corrupt acts which drive away private investment.
A culture of inferiority complex exists which needs to be dealt with, so the African can develop the self worth necessary for personal development which can then result in capacity deployment to avhieve personal goals.
Success in life begins with the individual’s recognition that he or she is capable of achieving the dreams he or she has conceived in his or her mind. The Bible teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding according to Proverbs 9:10.
Christianity was the driving force behind the development of Europe because no society can sustain development without high moral values. GREATER WORKS therefore is a deliberate project to shape the minds of people, especially the youth, who will become the leaders of our future, to prioritise morality in their daily lives.
This is the only way to see a massive transformation in every aspect of our lives as Ghanaians and Africans in Ghana and the rest of the continent.
Since the inception of the GREATOR WORKS CONFERENCE, it has made a lot of impact in the lives of many people from the youth up to the senior citizens level. I recall the testimony of a church member who was motivated and pursued higher education and became one of the youngest Chartered Accountants in this country. Year after year, the impact of the conference has been enormous and lives in Ghana and across the continent, are being transformed.
Black people have started regaining their self confidence and the youth have started getting into areas that previously were considered out of bounds. At a personal level, certain ideas that some years ago, l would have not dreamt about suddenly has become realistic dreams.
The Christian lifestyle has impacted on my children and those close to me. Mindset change starts with one individual, then another and then gradually it spreads like a viral infection until a critical mass is attained and them a massive impact. There is hope for the future.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
