A Deputy Director for the Center for Democratic Development (CDD), Franklin Oduro has labeled some government communicators who have criticized the latest Afrobarometer report on Ghana, as “ignorant” of the facts.
“It is very challenging sitting back and you find people who are managing our affairs, who are entrusted with the management of our society of our country exhibit some kind of ignorance, and I must say that I hope it’s not deliberate I hope it’s just that they don’t know.”
According to the report which sampled the views of 2,400 Ghanaians, 76% of the them were pessimistic about the country’s economic prospects for 2015.
[contextly_sidebar id=”FbbKNrsVBhw8feSi5luCdK9WwJ9ZJ9Yk”]Government has heavily criticized the credibility of the report claiming it is not objective and politically skewed because 750 out of the 2,400 of the sampled size were from the political stronghold of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Government is currently struggling to improve the ailing economy with its home grown policies while seeking support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a possible way.
Speaking on the Big Issue on Saturday, the CDD’s Deputy Director insisted that the report was a fair representation of the views of Ghanaians.
He indicated that “it is for us to explain and educate Ghanaians that what we call the national representative sample should always reflect the proportion of the sample of the national population in the various regions.”
The Deputy Communications Minister, Felix Kwakye-Ofosu, earlier argued that the survey was conducted at a time when the country was facing severe economic conditions which may not be prevalent in the country currently.
Government was compelled to initiate discussions with the IMF to help salvage the nation’s economy which has been hit with huge budget deficit, high inflation rates, huge wage bill, rising cost of living and huge public debt.
The team from the IMF are expected back in Ghana in November to begin the third round of talks for a bailout programme.
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Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com/Ghana