Election petition affects investor confidence - Minister

Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Inusah Fuseini, has bemoaned the effect of the election petition being heard by the Supreme Court on investor confidence in the country.

He said many have lost sight of the fact that Ghana is located in a region where political stability is scarce; therefore the ongoing case could serve as a disincentive for investors.

Speaking on Joy FM’s news analysis programme Newsfile on Saturday, Inusah Fuseini maintained that a careful examination of the petition would establish how costly the exercise has been to the country.

He averred: “This election petition is very costly, costly in terms of production; productivity has gone down drastically.”

He stressed that the petition is having adverse effect on Ghana, and therefore called for a speedy closure to the case.

“It has affected the confidence of investors who want to come into this country. So if you are counting cost you must count all those things [and not only the live telecast]. We need to have a closure to the court case,” he added.

He explained that even though Ghana is a democratic country, it unfortunately finds itself in a third world region “that is subject to many political risks, so investors take political risks into consideration in coming”.

For instance, the outcome of the election petition, he said, can lead to a requisitioning of a contract.

But the Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Malik Kweku Baako said line managers should be blamed if workers are allowed to watch the live telecast during working hours.

He maintained that the live broadcast was necessary to “cure mischief” of party propagandists, and will also serve as catalyst for Ghana's democracy.