Nana Amoasi VII, Executive Director, IES
Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Security (IES), Nana Amoasi VII has observed that the expectations of Ghanaians in the Akufo-Addo-led government is very high.
He said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, May 8 that the government may have done is work to ease the economic pressure on the people, but because of the high expectations, the government is always called upon to do more.
Touching on the government’s reaction to the #FixTheCountry Movement, Nana Amoasi VII told the host of the programme Abena Tabi that “One thing the government could have done was to absorb this bullet and say yes, I admit there are these issues to be addressed. I have not been able to handle fuel prices well, over the last four years fuel prices have increased by 70 per cent. I took up 2017 a stable power supply, today, there is an erratic power supply. I admit that there are an inefficiency in the power sector, I admit that the energy sector debt is growing, I admit that there is the smuggling of fuel in the system. Electricity access is not growing.
“These are the things I am targeted to fix in the next years and these are the plans. However, be mindful that I have done these projects as well so where we stand today I require your support as Ghanaians because we are not in good times.
“This is the position government should have taken but to go against the very people you are supposed to protected and make sure their welfare see positive dimensions is in bad taste.
“They came out with some of the things the government has done but the expectation of the Ghanaian is too high because we all know that we are progressing but the progress is not speeding up in tandem with our expectations so once in a while we will call on the government to order itself.”
His comments come after Vice President Dr Mahamaudud Bawumia added his voice to the ongoing #FixTheCountry online campaign, saying the job of the government is to fix problems and that is what “we have been doing since 2017”
In a Facebook post, he said that the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down the global economy and caused increases in prices of commodities such as oil, cement and iron rods as well as the overall cost of shipping.
He also listed a number of projects undertaken by the government vis-à-vis what they inherited after the 2026 elections.
“We are four months into our four-year mandate. The job of the government is to fix problems. This is what we have been doing since 2017.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down the global economy and caused increases in prices of commodities such as oil, cement and iron rods as well as the overall cost of shipping.
“Nevertheless, it is very important to place the performance of our government over the last four years after inheriting an economy with “no meat on the bone” on record. Ours is a government that listens and cares. The facts and data speak for themselves. Trust President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.”
A member of the #FixGhana Movement, Yaw Moses has indicated that although the government has done some work to alleviate the plight of Ghanaians, the work done so far, is not enough.
He also told Abena Tabi on the Key Points, Saturday, May 8 that the economic figures that have been thrown out by the Vice President in an attempt to explain the work done by the government, do not reflect the realities on the ground.
“We are not talking about figures that are not reflecting on the grounds. You go to the market, do you think the inflation figures correspond with what is going on in the markets? How much is tomatoes? How much is a tuber of yam?
“We are talking about the reality on the ground. When I go to the market, what is the reality on the ground?. This is not about figures, a bag of cement is going for 50 cedis right now, how can a young man like me build a house. Iron rods have skyrocketed, how can I build a house? What is the cost of living now and so we are talking about realities on the ground? What they have done is not enough.”
A few days after the announcement of an increase in fuel prices with accompanying tax, Ghanaians took to Twitter to express their displeasure against the hardship in the country with the hashtag #FIXTHECOUNTRYNOW.
The main concerns identified with the hashtag include poor sanitation, inadequate jobs, tax increases, fuel prices increases, unstable power supply, poor roads etc.
With over twenty thousand tweets, it appears another section of Ghanaians are opposing the hashtag with a new one, #NANAISFIXINGIT which has over five thousand tweets.
While the hashtag #FIXTHECOUNTRYNOW is highlighting the challenges faced by the country, the hashtag #NANAISFIXINGIT is supporting the current government by indicating some of the work done by the government.