The albatross of political promises

Yes, this title is what I came away with after watching and listening carefully to our President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Vice-President and ministers at his maiden press conference held in the Flagstaff House last Tuesday.

I was struck by the manner our problems were enumerated and the vision to implement corrective measures as well as the zeal to move Ghana onto the New Patriotic Party (NPP) path of development and progress.

Then it struck me. Each of the words spoken and ideas announced were informed by the electoral promises of the NPP during the campaign last year and, therefore, were tailored to that end, that is, for Ghanaians to believe in their do-ability.

 This revelation was confirmed for me when I read an earlier news report on the  Dr Addo Kufuor interview that the government must consider postponing the Free SHS promise slated for implementation this September.

Do my readers recall the electoral promise by the now opposition National Democratic Congress of a one-time premium to be charged for the health insurance scheme? If I recall rightly, it took the late President Mills himself to disavow this promise at a similar press encounter at the Castle.

But whereas the President Mills encounters were yearly affairs, President Akufo-Addo has just increased the pressure on his government by promising twice yearly encounters with the press as happened last Tuesday.

In the event, the President and his team made several climbdowns from their assurances given last year during the campaign period. Let us look at just two which caught my attention.

Corruption

First, corruption. Our presidents, no matter what they say on their way to electoral victory, are creatures of law, not self-appointed or hand-picked. Here was President Akufo-Addo lecturing us on the absolute need to get prosecutable evidence before his government proceeded to court to try any person suspected of corrupt practices.

It is practically impossible for all political appointees to be corrupt. I must say at once that I notice that this is a global phenomenon, that is, the utterly false but pervasive belief that anybody holding down a public office is corrupt, especially direct political appointees. Why, in the name of God, do we believe this, without a shred of evidence or proof? Then on what basis do we choose a set of politicians to replace another?

Let me cite the American example of President Trump. Candidate Trump accused the Clintons of being worth $200 million, therefore, they are corrupt as both have been in politics all their working lives. He vowed to jail Hillary Clinton if he won. Strangely enough, enough American voters, at least in vital states also believed Trump when he said a rich country must be led by a rich person. 

When voters accept such serious contradictions in logic and political wisdom, then perhaps we blame politicians for pandering to the worst feelings and fears in us. Has Hillary been jailed? Can she even be tried?

The difficulties of the concept of Special Prosecutor stems from this unprincipled pandering, as much as the constitutional interference in the vital role of the Attorney-General.

In any case, the corruption of public officials and private individuals successfully prosecuted in the time of both Presidents Rawlings and Kufuor did not win for their parties any extension of their mandates.

Borrowing

Second, the concept of borrowing by our governments. The question on this hot electoral issue was put by the CITI FM presenter, Bernard Avle. I must say at once I did not study economics, but I understand the subject. I am prepared to stick out my neck to assert that the response given by our Vice-President was mistaken, to put it mildly. As Mr James Agyenim-Boateng responded, borrowing to reduce debt is like bombing for peace or seeking to protect one’s virginity by breaking it.

Quite apart from this general observation, the figures he gave out were end-of-year projections, not facts. It was a classic example of what Winston Churchill called a terminological inexactitude. The GH¢ 200 billion Gross Domestic Product figure is the projected target for end of this financial year, not actual which is about GHC¢ 65 billion.

The response gave the erroneous impression that the new NPP government has grown the economy from GH¢ 80 billion to GH¢ 200 billion. The current deficit is around eight per cent but the Vice-President stated it as six per cent, which is end-of-year projection.

As someone who criticised  Alhaji Bawumia on his lectures that established his reputation as a guru on our economy, I posit that he cannot now be relying on figures provided by the same Statistical Service to bombard us with fanciful figures after he had treated their output with contempt and derision in the campaign period. This case is not pandering because voters do not make up the figures provided by the service. It was barefaced propaganda for short-term political advantage.

We know a great deal of this Ananse cleverness after power has been won is due to the revenue generation shortfalls, which poor performance is driving the necessity to abandon the IMF bailout, as he called it, and seek more loans from bilateral sources to fund electoral promises. Hence the Himalayan borrowing in seven months of the NPP government which has added around GH¢ 800  to the debts already owed by every single Ghanaian. This, in the first seven months of a new administration which claimed we have the resources internally to develop our country but we only needed competent management that he and his party would offer when voted for.

We also know that what is expected in the short to medium term are the revenues from the oil infrastructure begun in the previous administration and which the NPP condemned to the skies. But electoral promises and claims have been made which belie the true situation as the work of government proceeds. It is the same Ghanaians pandered to who will decide the next time. The last time, they did not vote on performance. They are going nowhere.