Former Deputy Finance Minister Kwaku Kwarteng Discusses Ghana’s Cultural Problems

Former Deputy Finance Minister Kwaku Kwarteng believes Ghana’s problems are cultural and go beyond any single political party.

Explaining the fallout from his explosive article on Joy News' PM Express, he stated that economic mismanagement is a common thread running through multiple administrations, not just the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).

“If you go to the Mahama administration, there were a number of political decisions with economic consequences that we all discussed and criticised. We are hearing similar criticisms against this government.

“The reason I am reluctant to turn this into the criticism of one regime is that it gives the impression that merely changing that regime solves the problem.

Read also: ‘My article wasn’t an attack on Akufo-Addo’s government’ – Kwaku Kwarteng

“If really all the problems we are discussing facing Ghana today are the result of something this administration has done wrong, then Ghana does not really have a problem. All you have to do is vote against the government, and there our heaven comes.

"But we know that is not enough, thus my argument that there should be more to our efforts than accessing government and voting people in and out.

“Politicians will be voted in and out yet the people will continue to get a bad deal. This is why I was saying we should span it across regimes and appreciate it is a cultural thing.

“I have seen enough to tell me that sometimes it is not so much which political power is in power, it is what individuals have power to do and what they want to do. Irrespective of the party, if they have a weak sense of patriotism, they can do very bad things,” he said.

Mr. Kwarteng wants the discussion to focus on the systemic issues within the political class and how that culture can be changed.

He argued that the problem extends beyond the two-party system of the NDC and NPP, saying, “If that third force comes and the systems and culture of government that we see today is what they are going to operate within, trust me, the outcomes will not be any different.”

The Obuasi MP urged like-minded members of his party to start making the right decisions to put the country on the path to prosperity.

Background

Kwarteng has expressed concerns that if Ghana continues on its current path, its democracy could collapse, taking all political parties with it.

The immediate past chairman of Parliament's Finance Committee noted that since independence, political parties have focused on praising their achievements and making grand promises for the future during elections while painting their opponents in the worst possible light.

“We have mastered this art, and in the process, we have forgotten that politics should be about the future of our children and our motherland. We have reduced election campaigns to bitter struggles between competitors seeking power for the wrong reasons.”

Kwarteng likened the management of Ghana's economy to a Ponzi scheme, attributing the current economic challenges to decades of poor governance, political mismanagement, and economic inefficiency across various administrations.

He pointed out that since gaining independence, Ghana has consistently spent beyond its means and relied on borrowing to cover the excess, often prioritizing expenditures poorly.