Election 2020: 5 things standing between Akufo-Addo and victory
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is seeking a second term in office as Ghanaians go to the polls on Monday, December 7, 2020.
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In what is a repeat of the 2016 general elections which his ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) won resoundingly, Akufo-Addo has the National Democratic Congress (NDC's) John Mahama as his most credible opponent.
While Akufo-Addo has a lot of achievements to talk of in his campaign, there still a lot of reasons why some people may not decide to vote for him.
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Many things have happened in his government which may be a stumbling block for his re-election.
YEN.com.gh brings you some of the things standing between him and victory in the 2020 elections.
1. Coronavirus:
In a general sense, Akufo-Addo has managed the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation very well. Ghanaians have not lost their lives numbers in large as a result of the pandemic and have even enjoyed freebies like electricity and water which are all pluses for the government.
But beyond that, the pandemic has slowed down economic growth in Ghana just like it has done to many economies around the world. The slow economic growth has affected businesses.
The restrictions on public gatherings and other things in order to control the spread of COVID-19 have also affected many businesses negatively and some have had to downsize their staff numbers and many of them are not happy.
2. Banking crisis:
In August 2017, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) started a process to sanitise the banking industry in Ghana by approving a takeover of UT and Capital banks by GCB Bank over insolvency issues.
Almost a year on, BoG consolidated five indigenous banks Unibank Ghana, The Royal Bank, Beige Bank, Sovereign Bank, and Construction Bank in Consolidated Bank Ghana.
Later, many banks including Paa Kwesi Nduom's GN Bank lost their licenses for failing to meet the new GHC400m capital requirement threshold. Other micro-finance (savings and loans) companies also suffered the same fate in BoG's clean-up exercise.
While the BoG has given ample justification for their decisions to collapse some banks and withdraw the licenses of others, the simple truth is that many Ghanaians have not been happy about it.
Many jobs have been lost as a result of the collapsing of those financial institutions and many people still have their monies yet to be paid even though the government has assured that payments will be made.
3. Menzgold saga:
At the height of the banking crisis in 2018, the BoG in collaboration with the Security Exchanges Commission (SEC) set sights on the operations of Menzgold, a supposed gold investment firm which was run by Zylofon owner Nana Appiah Mensah.
In September 2018, SEC ordered Menzgold to shut down their operations over issues of compliance.
While this might have been the best professional decision SEC could have taken, the shutdown has left many people's investments which run into millions of cedis stuck with the company.
As we are all aware, Menzgold customers have been going on demonstrations to get the attention of the government for their monies to be paid but their issues are yet to be resolved.
There is the possibility the Menzgold saga will be to Akufo-Addo what the DKM saga was to John Mahama in 2016 which made him lose a lot of votes in the then-Brong Ahafo region.
4. Galamsey fight:
Not long after being sworn into office, AKufo-Addo started a fight on illegal mining activities in Ghana popularly known as 'galamsey' fight.
The fight against 'galamsey' had been necessitated by the havoc the activities of illegal miners had been wreaking on Ghana's water bodies, forests, and general environment.
The initial stand of the government was to halt all such activities and form a security task force, Operation Vanguard, to deal with the stubborn ones who refused.
The end game was that the government was going to train these illegal miners and regularise their activities to become small scale miners.
But the transition from illegal mining to small scale mining has not been smooth as anticipated. Many of those affected have complained about heir concessions being taken away and given to party people.
Moreover, there has been some controversy over fight against 'galamsey' after some confiscated excavators reportedly vanished.
Generally, economic activities in the areas which were into 'galamsey' came to a halt after the ban and there are many people who lots their livelihoods.
5. Perception of corruption:
One of the strongest points Akufo-Addo and the NPP used against Mahama was the tag of corruption placed on his government.
But after almost four years in government, Akufo-Addo's is yet to successfully prosecute any Mahama appointee over corruption-related offences.
On top of that, the Akufo-Addo government has been rocked with many corruption-releated scandals some of which as big as those that happened under Mahama if not bigger. The PDS scandal and the Agyapa deal are some of the scandals that come to mind.
For many people like award-winning journalist Manesseh Azure Awuni who saw Akufo-Addo as champion of anti-corruption, he has disappointed big time.
In conclusion, the 76-year-old Akufo-Addo is in a pole position to win a second term in office considering the many positives he has achieved in his first term.
But if he fails to win, the points listed above will be major contributory factors to bring him down.
While they may not admit in public, a lot of staunch supporters would have wished that issues like 'galamsey', the banking crisis, and the Menzgold saga could have been handled in a different way.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
