Tamale North Member of Parliament, Alhassan Suhuyini, has had enough of government constantly pinning current challenges plaguing the economy and the agricultural value chain on external factors.

Government has on several occasions blamed the economic meltdown on a multiplicity of factors, including the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine.

President Akufo-Addo for instance, while delivering the State of the Nation Address in March 2022 said “bombs might be dropping on cities half a world away, but they are hitting our pockets here in Ghana.”

But the Tamale North MP thinks government is giving too many excuses for its “poor leadership.”

Making his case on The Big Issue on Citi TV, Mr. Suhuyini said “indeed there is a global increase in food prices. It is something that almost all countries are battling with. The only difference is the systems these countries have put in place to ameliorate the effect of the situation. That is why it is important that we look within ourselves as a country to see what we can do locally in the face of these challenges.”

“The problem we have as a country is the excuses we keep getting from leadership. These excuses do not give us the needed confidence or assurance that the ones in charge have a grip on the situation. We keep hearing excuses such as the Russia-Ukraine war, which the Russians have dealt with beautifully.”

“The impact of the Russia-Ukraine war is in the future. It is also ridiculous for government to keep referencing Covid-19, the pandemic did not affect food production. When leadership keeps giving such flimsy excuses, their understanding and appreciation of the actual problem come to question. If the cause of food inflation in the country is external and not local, imported products should have a higher inflationary rate. It tells you that the problem is local,” he argued.