The National Communication Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has criticized President Akufo-Addo, for demonstrating intolerance and egoism in a recent interview with the BBC’s Peter Ōkwóchè.

According to the NDC’s spokesperson, he felt embarrassed by the President’s delivery in the said interview.

Speaking in an interview with Raymond Acquah on UpFront on Wednesday, Sammy Gyamfi debunked the assertion that the President performed excellently in his interview with the BBC journalist.

“I have watched excerpts of the interview and what I saw in that interview was a President who is not willing to accept responsibility for his own mismanagement and the failings of his government.

I saw a President who has lost touch with the realities of his people; a President who has become increasingly intolerant due to obviously the intoxication of power.

What was excellent about what he said in that interview?”, Sammy Gyamfi quizzed.

In his review, he added that the President sought to peddle falsehood which was exposed by the BBC’s Peter Ōkwóchè. Sammy Gyamfi said, he expected Akufo-Addo to be honest about the state of the country’s economy instead of lying and seeking to paint a false picture about the present situation.

For him, the economy has collapsed and therefore Akufo-Addo should have used the opportunity to outline measures he intends to employ to rescue Ghana from the current ‘bottomless pit’, he and his government has plunged the country into, as a result of their ‘recklessness’ and ‘mismanagement’.

The criticism by Sammy Gyamfi of the President’s BBC interview adds to the hundreds of feedback which have accompanied the interaction since it was first aired on Monday.

President Akufo-Addo on Monday spoke about the Electronic Transaction levy (E-levy) Bill which has been passed into law, the country’s tourism sector and the Black Stars’ qualification to the 2022 World Cup on the BBC’s Focus on Africa show.

According to some Twitter users, Peter Ōkwóchè must be lauded for asking thought-provoking questions and sharing his view on the Ghanaian economy – one he described as “terrible”.

They have gone as far as comparing the work of Ōkwóchè to some journalists in Ghana who have had the opportunity to interact with the President on the state of the economy.

Users say these journalists played to the gallery instead of asking brazen questions.

Justifying the imposition of the E-Levy, President Akufo-Addo said there is the need to tax the industry that deals with transactions where a lot of value is being created. According to the President, Ghanaians are not “impoverished”.

“The digital economy is emerging, it’s the biggest economy in the country and for a long period it’s not had any taxation at all and so it is important that they also come into the tax net.

Our country has one of the lowest tax to GDP ratios of any country in West Africa and of an equivalent economy … I don’t know any group of people, especially businesses when taxes are brought to them they like it” he added.

But reacting to this, users say the President misinformed the public as the levy would be affecting individuals and not an industry.

Another section of users on Twitter however commended the President for his delivery during his interview with the BBC journo. According to them, the President was forthright in his responses and showed admirable resilience and belief in the prospects of the country’s economy.

Meanwhile, concerning the country’s economy, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, is expected to address the nation, tomorrow, April 7, on the state of the economy.

The address by the Vice President is expected to reiterate the measures by government to deal with the current economic difficulties, which has become a raging subject of discussion in recent times.

But ahead of this address, a leading member of the opposition NDC, Felix Ofosu Kwakye, has rubbished the said address, stating that, the Vice President’s delivery will amount to nothing.

“Incessant pressure has finally smoked Bawumia out of his rat hole after running away from economic commentary like a plague.

His horrible mismanagement of the economy has resulted in the worst public debt, worst budget deficit, worst debt to GDP ratio, worst performing currency in the world after the Russian Ruble, runway inflation, worst ever credit ratings, loss of access to the international bond market, unprecedented accrual of arrears, unparalleled economic hardships, rising cost of living and dozens of killer taxes.

In light of this, expect him to be limited to ridiculous excuse making to shirk responsibility for the economic catastrophe and the falsification of economic theories in an attempt to explain away his disastrous performance as the very worst Head of the Economic Management Team.

He will run back into his favorite rat hole because we will be ready”, he wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday.