Presidential Advisor and aide to President John Dramani Mahama, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, says managing Ghana’s debt remains one of the most urgent challenges facing the government, especially as pressure continues to mount on key social sectors.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Friday, December 19, Ms Bawah said the government is working within very limited fiscal space while trying to meet pressing national needs.
“One of the most critical things right now is how to manage Ghana’s debt. The fiscal space is also very small.”
Despite these constraints, she said that the government cannot afford to ignore essential areas such as health. “We also have very keen interests in our health, for example. That is important,” she said.
Ms Bawah pointed to the Ghana Medical Trust Fund as an example of how targeted interventions can make a real difference.
“Look at the level of exposure of this Ghana Medical Trust Fund. You can see that immediately, that facility has become like a lifeline for a lot of people.”
She noted that many politicians are regularly called upon to support individuals with medical bills, a burden she described as significant.
“Talk to any politician, the amounts they have to commit to private endeavours of people who need assistance for all sorts of health facilities and ailments. It’s not a joke.”
According to her, beyond personal support, the country’s health system itself needs urgent attention, including equipment replacement, retooling, and training.
“Even the facilities that we have, the equipment replacement, the retooling, the training of these people, go across the 16 regions of Ghana. Not even a region has a basic teaching hospital.”
She said that the well-being of the population must remain a top priority for any government.
“Your society is also about the health of your populace. You can’t wake up in the morning and say that because you’re president today, you do not focus on health. You must.”
Ms Bawah also highlighted food security as another critical area, particularly support for agriculture and poultry farming.
“Second is on food,” she said. “And I love what you’re doing this morning, trying to actually help poultry farmers to encourage them.”
She shared a personal example to illustrate the challenges farmers face.
“I mentor a very young poultry farmer. Fantastic woman doing a great job,” she said. “It would actually pain me that for all her commitment, she would finish and come to the market and have nobody to buy.”
Ms Bawah said the government is exploring new opportunities within the poultry value chain, including egg processing.
“I’ve heard conversations about liquid eggs. They are big business everywhere in the world,” she said. “Ghana is looking at this option too.”
She added that attention is also being paid to the cost of feed for poultry farmers and the need to support industry players through appropriate incentives.
“There are all these tax exemptions that should come to people who want to go into industry,” she said.
However, she noted that the current administration is tightening controls around tax exemptions to prevent abuse.
“For the first time, our finance minister is making sure that if you are going to get a tax exemption, first, it is the right thing to do. Second, that it will be used for the full benefit for which you are taking it.”
Ms Bawah explained that, unlike in the past, exemptions can no longer be granted freely by ministries or agencies.
“Now everything must go before Parliament, so yes, some delays are also being created. There’s a little bit of a queue in the system.”
She defended the Finance Minister, saying he is dealing with difficult circumstances inherited by the current government.
“What do you expect the man to do?” she asked. “This is what he has inherited. The President has charged him to do well by the good people of Ghana.”
According to her, the government is now prioritising spending in areas where it is most needed, including roads and agriculture.
“If you watch, the Roads Ministry has received enormous support. For the very first time, we’ve set up a very different fund under the Big Push policy to support roads in that sector.”
She added that agriculture remains central to the government’s long-term plans, not only for domestic consumption but also for export growth.
“We’re looking at agriculture not just because we want to feed ourselves. We want to feed ourselves and even expand into other markets.”
“If we don’t start to refocus our attention on what this beautiful soil that God has given us can do for us, we will have challenges,” she said.
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