Ghana needs a fresh start to overcome its economic crisis, says ex-president: Video
Ghana’s former president and presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama, has pledged a "total reset" of the country’s economy, which he described as being in crisis.
According to former president Mahama of the opposition National Democratic Congress party (NDC), the country faces severe challenges, including rising inflation, a depreciating currency, and a deeply unbalanced macroeconomic framework.
"We've hit a dead end. Our economy is in crisis, and everything else has a linkage to the economy. Inflation is up. We have a depreciation currency, and our whole macroeconomic, framework is unbalanced," he told Global South World in an interview.
He emphasised the urgent need for fiscal reforms to address these issues and stressed that such reforms should go beyond the economy and extend to governance as well.
"When you use your phone and it gets frozen, what do you do? You reset it, you restart it. And so we need to restart,” Mahama said.
The former president says if he wins a new term in office, he will seek to renegotiate terms of a $3 billion International Monetary Fund bailout, which was secured last year to restructure the West African country's debt.
Mahama’s remarks come as he prepares to challenge incumbent President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia, in the upcoming December 7, 2024, elections. This will be Mahama’s second attempt at regaining the presidency after losing the 2020 election to incumbent president, Akufo-Addo.
There are ten other candidates in the race, including independent contenders Nana Kwame Bediako and Alan Kyerematen, who are expected to draw votes away from the two leading candidates.
With Ghana facing serious economic challenges, Mahama’s call for a "total reset" of the country's economic and governance systems is set to be a central theme of his campaign as he seeks to reclaim the presidency in 2024.
Watch the full interview below:
