The Member of Parliament for Manso Nkwanta, Tweneboa Kodua Fokuo, has taken a swipe at President John Dramani Mahama’s assessment of the economy, insisting that Ghana is far from taking off as suggested in the 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Contributing to the debate on the President’s 2026 SONA on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, the Manso Nkwanta legislator challenged the analogy used by the President to describe the country’s economic direction.
“Mr. Speaker, the President said the plane is about to take off and that we must buckle our seat belts. But the reality is that the plane is not taking off; we are stuck in a narrow way,” he stated.
According to him, the current economic managers are focusing more on short-term currency stabilization rather than pursuing long-term structural transformation.
“The managers of the economy are turning gold into dollars to inject into the foreign exchange market. This is what they call currency management, not structural transformation,” he argued.
The MP expressed concern that key real sectors of the economy, including industry, manufacturing, and oil and gas, are weakening because policy attention has been diverted.
“Our real sectors — industry, manufacturing, oil and gas — are weakening because policy bandwidth is being diverted to short-term stabilization and reserve stockpiling,” he stressed.
He further noted that investment levels and productivity remain low, warning that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth momentum has slowed.
“Investment and productivity are weak, and GDP growth momentum has been slow. That is not the sign of an economy that is about to take off,” he added.
The debate on the President’s 2026 State of the Nation Address continues in Parliament, with members from both sides of the House offering contrasting views on the true state of the Ghanaian economy.
Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com
