How Gabby compared Somalia’s currency to the cedi in 2014

In the midst of a depreciating currency, past views of members of the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP, have often become topical.

Past social media posts – Twitter and Facebook – on the performance of the Ghana cedi has often been dug up to point to how critical NPP leaders in opposition were of the then John Dramani Mahama administration.

The latest ‘ archaeological extract’ is of Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, whose Facebook post of 2014 on the cedi has began been circulated on social media.

In the said post, he compares the Ghana cedi to the Somali shilling. Without citing any basis for the comparison, Gabby claimed the shilling was performing better than the cedi despite the political challenges in the war-hit nation.

The post read: “Do you know that Somalia’s currency, the shilling, is doing better than Ghana’s cedi? And did you know that for two decades Somalia has had no real government or monetary authority? Now, how does that make you feel as a Ghanaian?”

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his recent address on the economy touched on the twin problems that the government has serially blamed for the current economic headwinds – the impact of COVID-19 and the Russia – Ukraine war.

In other parts of the address, he blamed currency speculators and persons who talk down the cedi for the depreciation of the cedi.

The opposition has, as expected, delivered a critical analysis of the address and insisted that the current woes were the result of mismanagement and bad policy positions.

Government is currently seeking a US$3 billion programme with the International Monetary Fund, IMF to shore up the economy.