"We Did 7% Before Covid" – Darko-Mensah Dismisses 6.3% Growth Without Covid As Nothing Special

Member of Parliament for Takoradi, Hon. Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, says the current administration has no basis to celebrate a 6.3% growth rate, arguing that the previous NPP government achieved 7% even in the middle of a global crisis.

Speaking on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM’s _Frontline_, the Chairman of the Committee for Parliamentary Affairs pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as a benchmark.

"We managed two major shocks — the banking sector crisis that cost the nation over GH¢30 billion, and the global COVID-19 pandemic which further exacerbated the situation," he said. "Despite these overwhelming hurdles, the previous government remained steadfast in resolving the crises."*

According to him, the NPP Did 7% Before Covid so he Dismisses 6.3% Growth Without Covid As Nothing Special

Hon. Darko-Mensah used that period to challenge the numbers in the mid-year budget review presented by Finance Minister *Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson*.

*"They are celebrating a 3 per cent economic growth rate. Even during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the previous administration recorded a 6 per cent growth rate,"* he stated.

The Takoradi MP described the entire budget review as *"complete abrofosem"* — lacking hope, impact and strategy — and said it was detached from the reality of Ghanaians struggling with high water and electricity tariffs.

He accused the government of slowing the economy through what he called *"economic sterilisation"* instead of spending to stimulate it. According to him, with 80% of Ghanaians in the informal sector, reduced expenditure and weak revenue mobilisation are choking trade.

*"The government has been lazy in raising revenue and has been lazy with expenditure. They have reduced expenditure by GH¢5 billion. They are not making impact,"* he told host Kwabena Agyapong.

Hon. Darko-Mensah urged the administration to stop *"massaging figures"* and be transparent about the state of the economy, insisting that governance should be measured by lives transformed, not by numbers on paper.

"I believe strongly governments exist to create an impact and not to create numbers," he added.