Akufo-Addo is the worst and most disappointing President in Ghana’s 4th Republic

Among former Presidents Rawlings, Kuffour, Prof. Atta-Mills and Mahama, President Akufo-Addo’s records so far have been highly disappointing to majority of Ghanaians and can be considered the worst Presidency witnessed in our 4^th Republican dispensation.

This sad verdict for Mr. President holds water, in my opinion, in a wide range of issues: security and intimidation, economy, energy and transport, social and corruption, and environmental aspects. Let’s look at these 5 legacy records of President Akufo-Addo beneath into detail.

Security and intimidation legacy
The by-election in the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency which took place on 31 January 2019 after the death of the incumbent NPP MP Emmanuel Kyeremateng Agyarko on 21 November 2018 unleashed brutal National Security personnel on ordinary constituents.

The aftermath of this brutal Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election in 2019 sent shivers down the spine of Ghanaians under the Akudo-Addo-Bawumia-led regime in 2019.

As if that was not enough, the Techiman South shooting at the collation center in the 2020 claimed about 8 innocent lives under this same regime. The legacy of the Akudo-Addo-led government in terms of security is one of intimidation and general insecurity including armed robbery and unresolved killings such as Ahmed Suale, Hon. J. B. Danquah, etc.

Economic legacy
Too much borrowing led by the former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and bloated government expenditure coupled with external shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing Ukraine-Russian war almost crashed Ghana’s economy which led to a much-needed IMF loan with its associated consequences. The Domestic Debt Exchange Program (DDEP) and more taxes are some of the painful actions taken by the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led regime.

The general macro-economic indicators e.g. inflation, exchange rate, debt-GDP ratio, interbank rate, etc. have worsened over the past 7 years, leading to expensive general cost of living in the country now. Ghana is highly indebted although the IMF Facility is in place now under this highly disappointing and incompetent Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led government.

Social and corruption legacy
Incidences of corruption and nepotism have become so rampant under President Akufo-Addo, and it appears the social fabric of our nation is seriously undermined. President Akufo-Addo will go down in history as someone who spoke so strongly to fight corruption but did so little to curtail or prevent it whilst in government.

It was just a mere rhetoric for President Akufo-Addo to have told Ghanaians that he would protect the public purse and turned round to spoil the public purse himself due lack of leadership in the fight against corruption.

Although the free SHS policy was a good social intervention, it has been rushed through to score a political point under this Akufo-Addo’s regime. This has resulted in poor infrastructure to accommodate the growing number of students, poor feeding, intimidation of Headmasters to speak out and extraneous expenditures for parents to handle.

Energy and transport legacy
President Akufo-Addo has never missed the opportunity to castigate former President Mahama for punishing Ghanaians with dumsor although this is not factually accurate as the dumsor situation was fully resolved under former President’s tenure. With cover-ups and lack of serious investments coupled with mismanagement of the energy sector under Akufo-Addo’s regime, the worsening dumsor situation in the country has exposed his regime’s incompetence big time.

On the back of playing politics with dumsor then and for fear of mockery by the public, the Akufo-Addo’s government cannot even publish a dumsor timetable to enable energy consumers to plan better. It is regrettable that the current dumsor situation is caused both generational and financial problems after a strong foundation was laid for Akufo-Addo by former President Mahama.

Additionally, the increasing fuel prices over the years under this disappointing Akufo-Addo’s regime is worrying, as fuel price rise usually increases transport fares, which in turn affect everything at markets, homes, and workplaces.

Environmental legacy
The environmental legacy of President Akufo-Addo is equally not impressive at all. While this Akufo-Addo-led regime often talks of climate protection though its Green Ghana project to plant more trees in the country, the unhinged high-tech galamsey (HTG) operations have devastated our main river bodies and forest reserves in mining areas.

The ‘Presidential Galamseyers’ as reported by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng has exposed Akufo-Addo’s insincerity to fight this ragging environmental cancer and HTG has defeated the objective of the Green Ghana Day.

Conclusion
On the back of unimpressive legacies in the areas of security and intimidation, economy, energy and transport, social and corruption, and environment, President Akufo-Addo’s regime is the worst and most disappointing one. This mismatch of President Akufo-Addo’s promising statements during opposition and awful delivery in office coupled with his insincerity and insensitivity towards Ghanaians has made him unpopular and worst performing President in the 4^th Republic of Ghana. It is worrying that President Akufo-Addo is leaving behind a trail of bad legacies. A complete change in government is therefore is needed to rescue and rebuild the nation again.