“I’m disappointed and I’m saying it as it is; I’m very disappointed” fumed Dr Okyere Addai-Mensah, the Dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences at the KNUST over the management of the country by the Nana Akufo Addo led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government since it assumed office in January 2017.
His disappointment, according to him, stem from the steep increase in the prices of fuel over the short period of time that the government has been in power, the poor management of the expectations of the people and the comparison of government’s performance to that of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Contributing to discussions on Angel In The Morning with Kwame Tanko today, he said, “the rate at which fuel prices have been increasing in the past two year is worrying and the people who are responsible should wake up”, pointing out that “the ultimate responsibility rests with the President and so he needs to ensure that phenomenon is checked”.
President Nana Akufo Addo in March 2017 appointed Dr Okyere Addai-Mensah as the Acting Director of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), but the latter declined the post after a meeting with the President at the Jubilee House a month later.
The lecturer, who has been noted for his frank analysis on issues of national interest but also known for his inclinations to the NPP intimated that, “it is good that the government has introduced the Free SHS Policy, but it also prudent for it to check other sectors of the economy” since the hardship is becoming unbearable.
On the management of the Ghana Cedi against the Dollar in recent times, Dr Addai-Mensah asserted “the NDC has never been the standard for the NPP; and so when we go into a comparison between the NDC and the NPP and to suggest that the NPP has done better the NDC and so it’s ok, we should be quiet; no we should not be quiet about this”.
“It is important that we point out that, the way things are panning out, people are not happy; I am not happy”, he jabbed.
He has therefore challenged government to “accept dissent as part of loyalty” if it really wants to know the true situation in the country, since for fears of losing their jobs, government appointees would not be in the position to tell leadership the truth on the grounds.
“They will play the titanic when they are crying at the beauty of the opera, while the ship is sinking”, he insinuated.
Agitations are brewing in both the formal and informal sectors of the economy as Ghanaians complain of hardships following the introduction of some policies at the ports, fuel price increases and introduction of new taxes, but government maintains it is on the right track.
