By Ashiadey Dotse
Former President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has admitted that economic difficulties and public protests during his time in office contributed to his government losing popularity.
Speaking at a book launch by former Nigerian leader General Ibrahim Babangida, Akufo-Addo reflected on the economic struggles his administration faced, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He explained that the crisis severely affected Ghana’s economy, causing financial instability.
With international financial markets unavailable, his government had no choice but to seek help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to restore economic stability.
Akufo-Addo acknowledged that these economic hardships led to widespread dissatisfaction and protests. While he said the demonstrations were not as intense as those during the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) era in the 1980s, they were serious enough to weaken public trust in his leadership.
“We faced a major economic crisis, and with the world’s capital markets closed to us, we ended up going to the IMF. It was not an easy decision,” he admitted.
He added that although the protests were not as large as those in the past, they played a role in the growing frustration with his government.
“It brought people onto the streets, and I will say that even though the demonstrations were not exactly on the scale of the SAP riots that are recalled and described in the book, they were serious enough to feed into the growing disaffection against the government.”
