Many analysts have attempted to answer the question of why successive governments in Ghana often begin with confidence, applause, and bold promises, only to struggle a few years later. Ranking Member on Parliament’s Economy and Development Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, believes the answer lies in the situation where the real problems are never fixed.
Speaking in an interview with The High Street Journal, the Ofoase Ayirebi MP argues that successive governments focus too much on presentation and too little on deep structural reforms.
The result, he says, is a familiar cycle of early optimism followed by economic disappointment. The former Minister under the erstwhile government admits that several governments start right, but they don’t fix the structural issues, and eventually, everything goes south.
Fiscal Promises Without Discipline
At the heart of his critique are the issues with the fiscal side of the economy. Oppong Nkrumah says governments repeatedly announce reforms but fail to follow through. One example is the long-promised Fiscal Council, meant to independently scrutinize government finances.
“They announced a fiscal council, but they never formed it,” he notes. “So who is checking the fiscal numbers? Who is telling us whether what the government is saying is even true?”
Without that independent oversight, he argues, fiscal data becomes vulnerable to manipulation.
He points to what he describes as inconsistencies in government spending figures, particularly around flagship programmes.
“You cannot launch a programme in mid-September and claim that by the end of that same month you have already issued GH¢10 billion worth of certificates to pay,” he says. “The numbers just don’t make sense.”
To him, this habit of “cooking the numbers” creates an illusion of progress while masking deeper weaknesses. And when reality catches up, the economy begins to wobble.
Monetary Stability Built on Shaky Ground
Oppong Nkrumah says the same problem exists on the monetary side, especially with the cedi. While headline indicators may look encouraging, the fundamentals tell a different story.
He explains that Ghana’s balance of trade may be positive, but the country still struggles to pay for its imports using its own foreign exchange earnings. Imports continue to rise, hitting about $14 billion between January and October, roughly $2 billion higher than the previous year.
The Ranking Member says that what worries him most is the extent of the Bank of Ghana’s intervention.
“Bank of Ghana intermediation alone is about $8 billion,” he says. “Take that out, and then you’ll see the true position of the currency.”
In other words, stability is being propped up, not sustained. Without addressing the underlying gaps in foreign exchange generation, pressure on the cedi is only deferred, not resolved.
Politics Over Scrutiny
Oppong Nkrumah also points to political culture as part of the problem. He argues that excessive praise, especially in Parliament, often replaces serious scrutiny.
He is worried that sometimes you see people clapping instead of asking questions. They will just ignore the details and focus on just “praise singing.”
In his view, when governments are shielded from tough questioning, hard reforms are delayed. Structural problems are acknowledged in speeches, but avoided in practice because they are politically costly.
The Bottomline
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says the lesson from Ghana’s repeated economic cycles is clear. Strong starts are not enough. Without fixing the fundamentals, credible fiscal oversight, honest numbers, sustainable foreign exchange flows, and disciplined spending, early gains will always fade.
He maintains that you can’t keep toying with the structure and expect different results.
Until governments confront the structural economic problems head-on, every new government risks repeating the same journey, starting strong, then stumbling down the same old path.
