Politics of Monday, 20 May 2019
Source: citinewsroom.com
2019-05-20
Former President, John Dramani Mahama
Former President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concerns over what he describes as the Akufo-Addo administration’s penchant for blaming the previous government for its woes.
According to Mr. Mahama, the ruling government’s decision to constantly blame the previous government for these challenges is tantamount to “abdicating the responsibility of running the country.”
“It is normal in your first year to blame everything that has gone wrong on your predecessor. Maybe in your second year, you can continue playing the blame game but after your third year if the only thing in your mind is Mahama, then you are abdicating the responsibility of running this country. He can keep blaming everything on me till 2020, the people of Ghana will decide.”
“If in your third year and going into your fourth year, you are blaming everything on the previous government then you need to start preparing your handing over notes because it then means that you are not able to take responsibility,” the former President added.
Citing examples to support his claim, the former President said he took responsibility for the energy crisis that started under the NPP government when his government came into power.
“I came into office. There was an energy crisis. It was not my fault that there was an energy crisis. It was a legacy problem. I went to Parliament and said this is the crisis we have, I am the Commander in Chief.”
The former President’s assertion comes days after the government blamed the previous government for the importation of arms into the country.
The opposition party in a recent statement raised an alarm that the Akufo-Addo administration had authorized the importation of the weapons at a time the country was grappling with the threat of terrorism.
But the government said it can confirm that the Mahama Administration under the NDC rather issued a permit for the importation of the arms before leaving office in January 2017.
Aside from this allegation, both the President and the veep have accused the previous government of causing the current economic challenges.
