Mr. Mustapha Hamid, the minister for information is a smooth operator; by all estimates, he is a sleek politician.
Over the past 15 months, the man has proved beyond any reasonable doubt that he is a habitual fibbler and a fierce, unapologetic peddler of falsehoods. Simply put, Mr. Hamid is an irritant.
That Mr. Hamid gets away with bold faced exaggerations on public policy has everything to do with the reluctance of the Ghanaian media to hold him to account.
The fact is that Mr. Hamid has been given a free pass by those who are supposed to probe and query our public officials for answers to important national issues.
And sadly, the media’s glaring failure to discharge its professional duties vis a vis Mr. Hamid has invariably emboldened him to continue on his trajectory of distortions and fallacies.
On his facebook page, the information minister did not mince words when he boldly proclaimed that the national economy was clinking on all cylinders.
He shamelessly touted the economic achievements of the NPP and went on to say with a straight face and much to the disbelief of those who know better that our economy was the fastest growing economy in the world in 2017.
Yeah right, Mr. Hamid and I have the Circle Flyover in Accra to sell you.
Maybe, Mr. Hamid thinks Ghanaians are dupes, ignorant and gullible. And, he perhaps, views Ghanaians as intellectual inept and thus incapable of deciphering the kind of lofty language he uses to describe our economy.
Ghanaians aren’t a bunch of ignoramuses, they know better, Mr. Hamid. They know damn well that the economy isn’t performing at a high level.
They are acutely aware of the high inflation that has caused prices of basic goods to skyrocket and are worried stiff about the inexplicable high unemployment that continues to frustrate our young men and women.
But you would want them to believe otherwise, Mr. Hamid. You want Ghanaians to think everything is dandy, swell and great.
But you know deep down in your heart that the opposite is true. The economy stinks. Ghanaians are struggling mightily to survive. Ghanaians are leading hardscrabble lives. The economy is treating them badly. And, that is the unpleasant fact.
They are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet; to find work, to feed and clothe their families and to provide them with decent and affordable healthcare.
Mr. Hamid, given the immense financial struggles of Ghanaians and their gallant efforts just to get by, it is grossly unfair, unseemly, unethical and disingenuous on your part to constantly bombard Ghanaians with huge economic distortions while telling them that times are good; the economy has been a dismal failure for the last year and half. Times certainly aren’t any better. And you can take that to the bank, Mr. Hamid.
Mr. Philip Alston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty, who will be on a fact finding mission to Ghana beginning on the 9th of April, stated unambiguously that despite the stabilization of the Ghanaian economy, poverty in the country is still prevalent and inequality is on the rise.
Mr. Alston’s observation is timely and should set the record straight once and for all.
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