‘I will not allow this economy to collapse under my watch’ – Akufo-Addo’s 2017 tweet pops up

In 2017, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo promised that he would not allow the Ghanaian economy to collapse under his watch.

Delivering his State of the Nation Address before parliament on February 21, 2017, President Akufo-Addo said his government will significantly reduce the fiscal deficit in that year.

But fast forward to 2023, the governing New Patriotic Party, led by President Akufo-Addo, has come under intense criticism over the management of the economy, which is currently under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme.

Although the government has occasionally attributed the economic challenges to external shocks, such as the Russia-Ukraine War and the COVID-19 pandemic, a cross-section of the public has rebutted the claims, while accusing the government of gross mismanagement of the public purse and failed institutions.

A tweet posted by Akufo-Addo via Twitter in 2017 has popped up on the social media platform X [Formerly Twitter], leaving some users agitated over the failed promise.

“I will not allow this economy to collapse under my watch. We will reduce significantly the fiscal deficit this year,” the 2017 tweet read.

Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has admitted that times are hard and that he sympathizes with Ghanaians, adding that good times are ahead if a new president of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) stock succeeds him.

Akufo-Addo told the press after casting his ballot in the NPP super delegates conference (August 26) at the party headquarters that he is the first to admit that things are hard.

“Ghanaians say they are not happy with the way conditions are, they are tired, they are suffering,” a journalist asked the president who was departing from the premises after casting his ballot.

He replied: “It is difficult. I am the first to admit it, I have said it several times, I am the first to admit it. But at the end of the day, believe that when the moment comes, Ghanaians will refer to a good person and get us out of these difficulties and take us to the next stage. That is the New Patriotic Party.”