Mahama’s 8.1% economic growth rate claim for 2016 false says UoG economist

Development Economist and senior research fellow at the Centre for Social Policy Studies (CSPS) at the College of Humanities, University of Ghana, Dr George Domfe, has described former President Mahama’s 8.1% growth rate in 2016 claim as deceptive and a complete falsehood.

Dr Domfe made these remarks when he appeared on Bekyere Mu Show on Saturday, 13 July 2024, hosted by Gordon Asare Bediako on Movement Television in Accra.

Dr Domfe, who is also a fellow at the Institute of Progressive Governance (IPG) indicated that at a meeting held with GUTA recently, former President Mahama took the Akufo-Addo administration on, asserting that the 8.1% economic growth he bequeathed to the current administration has seen a drastic downhill growth. This, the University of Ghana economist stated is factually inaccurate and a complete fabrication.

“Former President Mahama met members of GUTA recently and declared that the sound economy he left for Akufo-Addo has been greatly mismanaged. He stated categorically that he left a robust economy, with a growth rate of 8.1% when he left office. This is a complete lie, very deceptive coming from the former president,” Dr Domfe said.

Domfe couldn’t fathom why media persons who met the former president at his media encounter did not ask him to prove his 8.1% economic growth claim. He questioned the professionalism of Ghanaian journalists and other media practitioners. Mr Mahama’s office, according to Dr George Domfe, “ought to have put him on the right path when he departed from the truth.”

“The economy under Mahama’s last year in office grew at 3.4% and that of the previous year, 2015 was 2.1%. It was 2.8% in 2014. In 2017, it grew at 8.1%, 2018 saw a decline to 6.2% and in 2019, it went up marginally at 6.5%. The COVID-19 pandemic came to disrupt the growth rate, throwing things out of gear as the global economic climate succumbed to the effects of the pandemic,” Dr Domfe stated.

“I was shocked when the former president said that the economy got worse in 2018 and 2019 when he knew he was peddling falsehood. The global community is watching him, and if he wins the election, it is there that they would not give any meaningful support to his government because of these lies he is telling the electorate, ” he further observed.

Dr Domfe also pointed out that one of the fundamental flaws of the presidential candidate of the opposition NDC is “his consistent inconsistencies over matters of national importance.”

“Look at his consistent attacks on Free SHS. Today, the same person who said if he had GHC2 Billion, he would not spend it on Free SHS, is claiming ownership of the policy he bastradized. The NDC spent millions of cedis on adverts to denigrate the Free SHS policy, labelled it as a political gimmick, an impossibility and all that. The global community would get to know him for being an inconsistent leader, that is, if he is able to win the 2024 elections. They will neither take him nor Ghana seriously, and this is not good for the country’s image” Dr Domfe further stated.

Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra

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