President John Dramani Mahama has come under fire from former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s spokesperson for spreading false information regarding the size of the “Sinking Fund.”
In his address to Parliament yesterday, President Mahama asserted that the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) had not left sufficient buffers to honor coupon payments to bondholders of the Domestic Debt Exchange Program (DDEP).
“While there have been claims that buffers were left for debt repayment, the statement of accounts for the Debt Service Reserve Account, also known as the Sinking Fund, shows a balance of only $64,000 and GHS143 million in the dollar and Ghana cedi accounts, respectively,” President Mahama said at SONA.
It appears that the president made this assertion to defend his administration’s economic management difficulties after promising improved living standards for all Ghanaians.
But in response to these allegations, Dr. Gideon Boako, the former vice president’s spokesperson, did not mince words and exposed Mahama’s deceit.
“President Mahama cleverly refused to mention the date for the balance he was referring to. They are using the August 2024 balance while ignoring the additional build-ups that took place before they assumed office,” Dr, Boako stated.
In his capacity as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North, Dr. Boako encouraged the president to present the accounting data instead of misleading the public and “top peddling falsehoods.”
“I challenged them weeks ago to publish the balance in the accounts as at 6th January 2025.
“They are only using the balance in the accounts as at the last time the NPP government made the third payments to the domestic bondholders, which is August 2024. They refuse to tell us that there were build ups into the accounts between August 2024 and January 2025,” Dr. Boako reiterated.
Dr. Boako clarified the situation by explaining what the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia administration left in reserve for the DDEP payments.
“For the purposes of emphasis let me repeat portions of my February 19th post challenging the government on the false information on the sinking fund.
“We had auction excess on 3rd Jan – over GH¢700 million in the fund, which was not spent.
“We left GH¢3 billion of end of year revenue also as buffer plus many more unspent funds in various accounts,” Dr. Boako pointed out.
As it went up for sale, the current Mahama government added something as well, Dr. Boako admitted, but he said it was untrue to claim that there were no substantial buffers.
Dr. Boako urged Ghana to improve its democratic administration by ridding it of false information and lies.
Dr. Boako claims that President Mahama has previously been exposed for deceiving the public on important economic issues.
“His track record during his previous administration was marred by economic incompetence, record inflation, a collapsed cedi, and reckless borrowing that led Ghana into an IMF bailout in 2015.
“Instead of taking responsibility for his failures, Mahama has resorted to fabricating economic figures in an attempt to blame the NPP government for his own lack of vision and poor leadership,” he added.
If the Mahama-led administration genuinely believes their assertions, Dr. Boako asked why they are hesitant to release the Sinking Fund balance as of January 6, 2025.
Dr. Boako pointed out that although President Mahama is raising false alarms about the nation’s financial reserves, the truth is that his administration is having trouble because of its own incapacity. Ghanaians must reject the lies being told to them and demand accountability.
He emphasized that the NPP government left a strong financial foundation, which included:
• A structured debt repayment plan with buffers in the Sinking Fund.
• A resilient economy showing signs of recovery despite global challenges.
• Proper fiscal management that prevented excessive deficits.
“Instead of building on these gains, Mahama and his team have turned to propaganda and blame games, hoping to escape scrutiny for their own failings,” Dr. Boako stressed.
Source: newsthemegh.com