As the NPP continues to struggle to paint a non-existent picture about the supposed non-performance of the Atta Mills Administration, an appendage of the NPP, IMANI Ghana, has confessed that John Agyekum Kufuor bequeathed to President Atta Mills, an economy worse than the Greek economy.

IMANI Ghana, a stable mate of Gabby Asare-Otchere Darko’s non-flying Danquah Institute (DI), obviously unable to continue mortgaging its soul to the sinking agenda of the Akufo-Addo, made the admission on Joy FM last week. Speaking on Joy FM’s News Night programme anchored by Dzifa Bampoe, last Thursday, Franklin Cudjoe, Executive Director of IMANI, stated emphatically and in very clear language that President Atta Mills inherited and economy worse than the Greek economy.

Speaking to the issue of President Atta Mills declaring 2011 an “Action Year” Franklin Cudjoe, despite his attempt to pooh-pooh the Action Year plan of President Atta Mills, made it succinctly clear that President Atta Mills cannot be 100% faulted for not vigorously pursuing his manifesto pledges in the first two years of his Administration because of the extremely dead economy that he inherited from Kufuor. “Because of the huge deficit that was run by the past Administration, President Atta Mills inherited an economy which was worse than the Greek economy” Franklin Cudjoe said.

Franklin Cudjoe may have been desperate to drum home the point that President Atta Mills’ Action Year plan of massive infrastructural investment will create a huge budget deficit but what he ended up doing, was making a very strong point that there is no way that President Atta Mills could have breathed a lot life into the NDC’s manifesto because of the lack of funds as a result of the extent to which Kufuor and his looting brigade mismanaged the resources of the state.

Speaking on the same programme, and addressing IMANI’s position of the President not hitting the ground running, Head of Communications at the Presidency, Koku Anyidoho, said that Fanklin Cudjoe was being extremely incongruous with his line of reasoning because having inherited an economy worse than that of Greece, it was impossible for President Mills to “hit the ground running”. “Dzifa, Franklin Cudjoe has said it all; President Atta Mills inherited an economy worse than the Greek economy so how on earth can Franklin expect that the first two years of this Administration will be what we all expected it to be?” Koku said. “President Atta Mills has spent 2009/10 plugging the holes and giving the economy the oxygen it needs to get back to life and starting walking strongly hence the declaration of 2011 an Action Year” Mr. Anyidoho said.

“However in spite of the horrible economy that President Mills inherited, a lot of projects started in 2009/10; 2011 is just going to accentuate the Better Ghana Agenda and make infrastructure expansion and job creation more visible” Koku added.

It is very interesting the way Joy FM has subsequently not played back the voice of Franklin Cudjoe saying that Kufuor destroyed the Ghanaian economy beyond the level of the Greek economy. Were it the case that IMANI Ghana had said something that hit the Government negatively, only God knows the number of times Joy FM would have played back the voice and uploaded it on Myjoyonline.com.

President Atta Mills, please stay focused on your Better Ghana agenda, and God Himself in his infinite wisdom will let your enemies begin to sing your praise. May God continue to bless our homeland Ghana and make us greater and stronger!

Nana Biakoye