J.A. Kufuor: You borrow to invest, not for 'chichinga'

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor says debts his administration is said to have piled up were used to develop the country. The former president lashed out at people who accused the erstwhile New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of being corrupt, stressing, such critics are themselves more corrupt. The former president was speaking in an exclusive interview with local NET2 TV on Thursday. Mr Kufuor said Ghana is still regarded by development partners as credit worthy because of the prudent decision his government embarked upon. Ghana’s economy grew by some 7.3 percent in 2008 whilst GDP quadrupled over the eight-year rule of the former administration, he argued. President Mills is on record to have slammed the previous administration for piling up debts for the new administration. But Mr Kufuor maintained, during the interview that funds secured by the country during his reign were invested in the right purposes, and not for meat consumption. The former president also urged the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to unite and forge ahead to win the presidency in the next election. He stressed that taking back power from the NDC would be difficult if the NPP does not unite. The former president defended his administration’s decision to take up the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative, and added that joining the programme was a prudent decision as the country then needed funds to fix what had been an ailing economy. Kufuor said his desire while in office, was to help improve the quality of life for the people, with the provision of potable water, improve education, and restore the dignity of persons. He was happy to have commissioned the tamale water project, but he said that was not enough, since about 40 per cent of the people lacked access to good drinking water. He challenged critics to visit Legon, (University of Ghana) to assess the level of infrastructure that his government undertook, saying it is the most outstanding since independence.