President John Dramani Mahama has acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic, which struck the world five years ago, severely disrupted Ghana’s poverty reduction efforts.
The pandemic dealt a heavy blow to global economies, causing widespread job losses and a steep rise in the cost of living.
During his time in opposition, Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) consistently dismissed claims by the then Akufo-Addo government that Ghana’s economic decline between 2020 and 2022 was primarily caused by the pandemic.
However, speaking at a side event of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, dubbed Accra Reset, President Mahama admitted that the pandemic had significantly undermined Ghana’s progress in poverty alleviation.
“The Covid-19 pandemic erased two decades of poverty reduction in less than two years,” he said, as quoted by state broadcaster Ghana Television on its official Facebook page.
The admission has sparked debate among political commentators, with many pointing out the contrast between Mahama’s current position and his earlier stance in opposition. Some argue that his remarks lend weight to the defense put forward by the Akufo-Addo administration at the time.
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