Ghana’s Economy Being Run like a Ponzi Scheme – Kwaku Kwarteng
Kwaku Kwarteng, Member of Parliament (MP) for Obuasi West and spokesperson on the Economy Committee, has attributed Ghana’s economic crisis to decades of bad politics and economic mismanagement by past and present governments.
In an opinion piece circulating in social media and sighted by EXPRESNEWSGHANA, Mr. Kwarteng stated that Ghana’s economy is being run like a Ponzi scheme.
“The economic problems Ghana is facing today, at both the national level and in households, are the cumulative effects of many decades, spanning different governments, of bad politics and economic mismanagement that have characterized the governance of our country. Since independence, we have survived by constantly overspending our means and borrowing to finance the overspending. Many of these expenditures are just bad prioritization,” Kwarteng said.
He explained that Ghana has been enticing lenders with higher interest rates, borrowing more, using part of the borrowed funds to repay previous debts, and the rest to cover current overspending. According to Kwarteng, this cycle mirrors a Ponzi scheme, which collapses when new investments cease. “The economy is struggling today because lenders are now refusing to lend to us. It is just like a Ponzi scheme going into crisis once people stop depositing their monies with them,” he added.
Kwarteng urged the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to provide visionary leadership to rescue the country from its economic woes if they hope to break the eight-year political cycle. He emphasized the need for the NPP to acknowledge past and present failures of the political class and to implement comprehensive reforms to address decades of poor governance and economic mismanagement.
“To break the eight, we must first break that norm by doing the following: Acknowledge the past and present failures of the political class to provide the kind of quality leadership required to avert the mess in which we find our country today. Adopt deep and far-reaching reforms to address the decades of bad politics and economic mismanagement. We must convince voters that we shall be ruthless in our determination to fix this country, that we shall stay the course no matter the challenges, and that there shall be no sacred cows,” he urged.
Kwarteng believes that if the NPP leads by example, acknowledges the country’s challenges, takes responsibility for its mistakes, and implements meaningful change, breaking the eight-year cycle will follow organically. “Once we lead by example, we can say with integrity to our people that we are sinking in a common boat and call all Ghanaians to duty. As a political party, if we sincerely believe and can demonstrate our faithfulness to these commitments, breaking the eight will follow naturally,” he concluded.
Additionally, Kwarteng addressed public concerns about politicians’ spending and called for steps to overhaul the corrupt public procurement regime inherited from previous governments.
About Author
