National dialogue is not the solution to current economic crisis - Lecturer

Dr George Domfeh, a Development Economist at the University of Ghana, says a national dialogue is not the solution to Ghana’s economic crisis. This comes after former President, John Dramani Mahama, claimed that Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta had been hiding behind the country’s poor economic situation the whole time. Mahama has called on the Akufo-Addo administration to be open and to seek advice from the “best minds” among the good people of Ghana. “The government should come clean and tell us, ‘What is the state of the economy?’ You must put everything on the table…That is why I called for a national dialogue. I said bring the best brains together. I have been president before, it served me well. I called the Senchi Forum, it didn’t reduce my stature as President,” Mahama added. Speaking in an interview with the host of Atinka FM’s AM Drive Kaakyire Ofori Ayim, Dr George Domfeh, said the call for a national dialogue is needless. He explained that the current economic crisis is “God sent” adding that it has exposed how vulnerable Ghana’s economic situation has been. Read Also: Economic crisis: “Mahama’s call for national dialogue apt”- Amon Kotei According to the development economist, factories that could have mitigated our crises have been left to rot in the bushes. “The call for a national dialogue is needless as the solution to our economic crisis is right in front of us.” I believe the current crisis is God-sent, especially for a country that does not prioritize local industries and has left factories from the Nkrumah era to rot. "What national dialogue do we need again? Belgium doesn’t grow cocoa, but they have built factories to make chocolates from cocoa. Cocoa is giving Belgium so much money, yet we take pride in exporting our cocoa to these countries, and we are here talking about a national dialogue. We import toothpaste into this country. Are we serious?”,” Dr. George Domfeh told Kaakyire Ofori Ayim.