He said the Ford Expedition car to the President has brought to the fore issues of conflict of interest, and affected the personal integrity of the President.
President Mahama has come under criticism for allegedly receiving a Ford Expedition as a gift from a Burkinabe Contractor who won government contracts.
Some Ghanaians have argued the President has placed himself in a conflict of interest situation while others consider it as bribery but some people say he has not breached any law particularly so when the President has put the car at the disposal of the state.
The New Patriotic Party flag-bearer argued the gift from the contractor to the President has strengthened the high corruption perception Ghanaians have about the President and his government.
Nana Akufo-Addo said this at a freedom forum organized by the youth wing of the NPP in Accra and supported by the International Young Democratic Union, Democratic Union of Africa. It was on the theme the right leadership for the new Africa.
Speaking on what he would do if elected President, he said his government would focus on efficient management of the nation’s resources, adding “The abysmal performance of Mahama’s government in their mismanagement of the national economy has brought our country once again back to the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” Nana Addo said.
Nana Akufo-Addo underscored the need to reverse the country’s economic decline that is affecting especially the traditional sectors of the economy including Agriculture.
“Last year agriculture grew by barely 0.04 per cent. We are importing food stuff that we have for centuries produced for ourselves from our neighbours and industry and manufacturing have witnessed negative rate of growth,” he said
He said Ghana’s economy has performed poorly under President Mahama to the extent that “We can barely squeeze out four per cent growth rate that is contributing to wide spread unemployment in the country,” he said.
“We have had devastating energy crisis that has led to the collapse of scores of businesses. We have high interest rate on loans and inflation is running into 19 per cent” he said while enumerating some challenges that government has failed to tackle.
By Nii Okai Tetteh|3news.com|Ghana