The Member of Parliament for Asunafo South in the Ahafo Region, Eric Opoku has blamed the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration for the hardship in the country.
The former Brong Ahafo Regional Minister believes the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be entirely blamed for the economic woes of an oil-producing country with arable lands for food production.
Speaking on the Gumbe Show on TV XYZ, Mr. Opoku stated that the government was not interested in cushioning Ghanaians as prices of food and services soar in the country.
According to the opposition NDC Spokesman on Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs in Parliament, the Akufo-Addo government did not prioritize mitigation measures when the deadly COVID-19 struck yet was neck-deep in borrowing without considering its rippling effects.
“When COVID came and the world market was being distorted, what did the government do?,” he quizzed while chastising the government for failing to boost the agric sector after vaccines were rolled out to quell the virus.
“Now, 85% of the price of fertilizers is being absorbed by the poor farmers. How can food be on the markets when farmers cannot pay for the fertilizers they should be getting at a subsidized price,” he asked again while pointing to the struggling agric sector.
As an oil producing country, Eric Opoku argued that fuel price should not have hit all time high as Ghanaians are experiencing now because the government’s taxes could have been reviewed downwards and some proceeds of the oil income be channeled to the agriculture industry to control food inflation.
“When fuel price goes up so much and transport owners increase transport fares like we are seeing, food prices will go up because the poor farmer will pass on the extra coast to the consumer,” he argued.
“In Algeria, the government pays the unemployed 100 dollars a month until they have jobs. The government has had to do that because of enough proceeds from their oil,” he stated.
“The government did it for spending to go up. and when spending goes up, it means demand will also go higher and production will go up for the economy to look good,” he added.
“So what the government should have done was to use some of the proceeds from fuel to support the agriculture industry,” he added. “Ghana has received enough funds from oil.”
Source: myxyzonline
