Protest over economic hardship in Ghana enters 4th day

Ghanaians have resolved to remain in the streets in protest of economic hardship as the West African country continues to struggle with a high cost of living.

The protest, which began on Thursday — with protesters taking their grievances to Jubilee House, Ghana’s presidential palace in Accra — is expected to continue on Monday.

Although inflation in Ghana has been on a decline, hitting a 10-month low in August at 40.1 percent from 43.1 percent in July; the protesters are still asking the Ghanaian government to “Fixthecountry” as the slowdown in inflation rate is not reflecting in their daily lives.

In July, the World Bank said Ghana’s economy in 2023 would grow by 1.5 percent. The lender also projected that growth would expand by 2.8 percent in 2024.

The projections fall short of the 3.1 percent reported in 2022. The country’s economic downturn has forced the Ghanaian government to seek its 17th financial rescue from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 1957.

Last year, Ghana approached the IMF for a bailout loan of $3 billion, after its citizens took to the streets to protest over spiralling inflation, currency depreciation, and other economic woes.

Amid the country’s financial problem, President Nana Akufo-Addo decided to build a new 5,000-capacity national cathedral, which would cost the government more than $400 million.

This led to accusations that the government was mismanaging Ghana’s resources and also using the Ghana Education Trust (GET) Fund to finance the education of prominent citizens.

On Sunday, the official X account of the FixTheCountry, a non-partisan and non-aligned civic movement in the country, vowed to sustain the resistance against “oppressors rule”.

“Fellow citizens… over the past 72 hours we have made history,” the pressure group said.

“Nkrumah et al., are smiling down on us. It shouldn’t even have to be said but for the record, it’s not the end. This fire is unquenchable.

“We will be back tomorrow with all our acknowledgments but we wish you all a safe journey home. Rest, for tomorrow the marathon continues – we will continue to resist oppressors rule”.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s economic struggle also affected some Nigerian banks, as they recorded failed securities investments in 2022 after investing in the country’s treasury bills, eurobonds, local US bonds and cedis bonds. 

The Ghanaian government forced the banks to take a 30 percent loss in their investment in debt securities, as the government could not meet its debt obligations.