Presidential Advisor and aide to President John Dramani Mahama, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, has praised President Mahama’s performance in office so far, saying he has done considerably well despite inheriting a country in serious financial difficulty.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Friday, December 19, she said the government deserves credit for the progress made within its first year in office.
“Let’s give credit where credit is due. The government is in its very recent time in office. It’s just under a year, almost.”
She recalled President Mahama’s message at his inauguration, where he promised that Ghana would be “open for business”, and said he has lived up to that pledge.
“I believe that at its inauguration, President Mahama told all of us that Ghana was actually going to be open for business. I think he’s walked his talk,” she stated.
According to her, the past year has been extremely challenging, especially because of the country’s financial situation.
“Look, it has not been easy. It’s been a very, very tough year. Difficult financial decisions are being made. Difficult choices are being made,” she said.
Despite the challenges, Ms Bawah said there is strong public goodwill and hope in the system, pointing to President Mahama’s decisive electoral victory and the large majority his party holds in Parliament.
“There’s enormous hope also in the system,” she explained. “For a very long time, for a president to win way in excess of 56 per cent of total valid votes cast, to have a super majority in Parliament, literally it is almost as if all of the votes have aligned to give you this country at this time, at a time when we are in very, very dire straits.”
She said the level of debt inherited by the administration alone is enough to overwhelm any leader.
“Sometimes I ask myself how President Mahama has survived the year,” she said. “Why? Knowing the level of our indebtedness alone. And this is not about external debts. It’s also about the debts that are local.”
Ms Bawah referred to repeated audit reports which, she said, clearly show the extent of the financial problems in many state institutions.
“Go to these government agencies. Time after time, we have audit reports, whether it’s a forensic audit report, an ordinary audit report, or even the Public Accounts Committee report. They should tell you the amounts that are owed, all sorts of people, the levels of procurements that were totally unnecessary.”
She added that in some cases, government agencies procured items far beyond immediate needs.
“In some agencies, items have been procured between now and the next 10, 15 years. You don’t even know whether or not these items will still be worthy of being utilised as the years go by.”
Ms Bawah described the previous system as irresponsible, with little control or accountability.
“There was this irresponsibility in the system, if I can call it that. It was almost as if there were no checks and balances, that everybody was alone to themselves. If you made up your mind on Monday morning that this is what you wanted to do at the ministry, you were free to do so.”
She also highlighted the Meridian Port Services project in Tema as an example of what focused leadership and commitment to development can achieve.
“The day we went to the Meridian Port Services commissioning in Tema, I was enormously humbled,” she said.
“If you visit that part of Tema and if you knew it then, it’s against what we have now. It tells you what commitment to development can do.”
According to her, the project has created jobs and is contributing to broader development in the area.
“Look at the levels of persons that this particular investment even employs. Today, they are considering working and contributing meaningfully to the Tema expansion project through the motorway all the way to the industrial city. We are looking at the regeneration even of the industrial city of Tema.”
Ms Bawah highlighted the importance of serious and committed leadership, noting that Ghanaians are now more alert and demanding.
“There is something that leadership provides when the leadership is serious and committed. And when there’s a certain sense that, look, Ghanaians this time around are not going to pamper you. Ghanaians are not going to sit and watch and wait for things to go awry before they start to protest,” she said.
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