A fierce debate ensued between Dennis Miracles Aboagye, a presidential staffer and NPP communicator, and Felix Kwakye Ofosu, an NDC parliamentary candidate, on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme.
The two politicians argued over former President John Mahama’s record and the current government’s economic performance and policies.
The brouhaha started during Dennis Aboagye’s submission as he attempted to defend Dr Bawumia’s promise to repeal the E-Levy despite being in office when it was implemented.
This sparked a reaction from Felix Ofosu who accused Dennis of being a ‘liar’, leading to an exchange of words and insults between the two while the host attempted to restore calm to the studio.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye criticized Mahama’s attempt to run for office again in the 2024 elections.
He said that Mahama had failed to deliver on his promises and had plunged the country into crisis. He cited the power outages, popularly known as ‘dumsor’, and the high inflation rates that characterized Mahama’s administration.
Felix Kwakye Ofosu, who is contesting the Abura Asebu-Kwamankese seat in the Central Region, defended Mahama’s achievements and challenged the NPP’s claims of economic success.
Felix Kwakye Ofosu accused Dennis Miracles Aboagye of making a “chop bar analysis” (a superficial and inaccurate analysis).
He said that Mahama had chaired the Economic Management Team (EMT) when he was the vice president under former president Atta Mills.
“If anyone tells you there was no EMT under former President Atta Mills, that president is lying. There was an EMT and it was chaired by John Mahama. I was in that government; I have been there,” he said.
He said that the NPP had no basis to compare themselves with the NDC, as they had performed worse in terms of inflation and exchange rates.
He said that the NPP had increased inflation from 8 percent in 2016 to 15.4 percent in 2023. He said that the NPP had also failed to service the debts they had accumulated, leading to economic hardships for 1.3 million people.
“He claims Mahama had ruined the economy Meanwhile, if you compare the inflation and exchange rates between the two governments, you are worse off. You took inflation from 8 percent to 15.4 percent, and you claim you’re better? You cannot compare yourself.”
“Your failure to service debts led to economic challenges that plunged 1.3 million people into difficulty. Meanwhile, Mahama never defaulted on debt payments. Meanwhile, you’ve racked up massive debts!” he said.
He said that Mahama had taken steps to solve the ‘dumsor’ crisis and had rather increased the power generation capacity of the country.
“Mahama never started dumsor, it had been a problem since the time of former president Kufuor, Mahama rather provided dumsor but your government has rather worsened the situation by your failure to pay them,” he argued.
He said that Miracles’ analysis was rather “childish and immature”.
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