"We Spent Without Reforms" – Ex-Deputy Finance Minister Confesses NPP's Fatal Error

In a startling moment of political honesty, a former New Patriotic Party minister has openly admitted what many Ghanaians suspected all along: the NPP government spent money it didn't have without fixing the systems needed to pay for it.

Kwaku Kwarteng, who served as Deputy Finance Minister and represents Obuasi West in Parliament, made the candid confession during a Thursday morning interview on JoyNews' AM Show. His admission pulls back the curtain on years of economic mismanagement that left Ghana struggling with debt and running to the International Monetary Fund for help.

Kwarteng didn't mince words when identifying what went wrong during the NPP's time in power from 2017 onwards.

"I think the biggest mistake we made in government was spending without doing the necessary reforms that would have generated the revenue to meet the expenditures we wanted to do," the former deputy minister acknowledged.

His confession carries particular weight because he sat at the heart of economic decision-making as a deputy finance minister. This wasn't an outsider criticizing from the sidelines but someone who witnessed and participated in the decisions that shaped Ghana's economic trajectory.

Kwarteng explained that the NPP took office in 2017 facing an already fragile economy under an IMF programme, a situation that should have demanded extreme caution.

"We inherited an economy in 2017 that was already under an IMF programme. Under those circumstances, you are supposed to be very prudent and move slowly," he noted.

Instead, the government launched numerous interventions and programmes without ensuring adequate revenue to sustain them. "We proceeded to deploy a whole lot of interventions that our revenues could not support. We were always going to get here," Kwarteng admitted.

The former deputy minister pushed back against narratives that blame Ghana's economic troubles primarily on the COVID-19 pandemic, a convenient excuse often deployed by the previous administration.

"I don't think it was just COVID that broke the back of our economy. It was decades of economic management misbehaviour, post-independence. We spend money we do not have," he stated bluntly.

According to Kwarteng, Ghana's weak economic fundamentals made the country more vulnerable when the pandemic hit, while nations with stronger foundations weathered the storm more successfully.

"That is the reason when COVID came, some countries survived it better than we did, because their fundamentals were stronger," he explained.

Having confessed his party's mistakes, Kwarteng turned his attention to the current Mahama administration with an urgent warning: don't repeat the same errors.

"This government must step up and say, this is where we draw the line. You cannot live your life on borrowed money and hope that somehow Ghana will become a developed country. That is a lie," he declared.

The MP called for courage in implementing difficult but necessary political and economic reforms. "We must face this and have those frontal discussions and have the courage to do the political reforms that would give Ghana a real future," he urged.

Despite his calls for reform, Kwarteng expressed pessimism about whether the current administration is taking the crisis seriously enough.

"As things stand now, I am not hopeful. I see a lot of the wrong practices, wasteful expenditure, and I don't see the steps being taken," he lamented.

He pointed to specific examples of questionable priorities that suggest business as usual continues. "There are many expenditures that could be cut. Go and look at our travel budget. We are going on trips and conferences while we have not paid the electricity bill of Parliament. Is that how you run a country?" he asked.

Kwarteng warned that Ghana appears stuck in a destructive cycle that transcends political parties. "This government is walking the same path that previous governments have walked," he observed, noting that the pattern applies to both NPP and NDC administrations.

He described the recurring strategy as "let us borrow to finance our over-expenditure this year and borrow again to pay back old debts" – a formula that has left Ghana drowning in debt.

While acknowledging recent improvements in economic stability, the former deputy minister insisted this isn't sufficient without addressing underlying structural weaknesses.

"As we commend the government for the stability we are seeing now, the fundamentals are still very weak. I am not seeing the bold initiatives needed to assure us that we will not end up here again," Kwarteng concluded.

Kwarteng's confession represents a rare moment of accountability from a politician willing to admit his party's failures. But his warnings about the current government suggest Ghana may be doomed to repeat the same mistakes unless leaders find the courage to break from past practices.

For ordinary Ghanaians watching their cedi depreciate and struggling with the cost of living, Kwarteng's honesty offers little comfort. The question now is whether any government will heed his call for fundamental reforms, or whether Ghana will continue its cycle of spending, borrowing, and crisis.

The former deputy minister's message is clear: without genuine reform and fiscal discipline, Ghana's economic problems will persist regardless of which party holds power. Whether anyone is listening remains to be seen. DISCLAIMER: This article is for informational purposes only. Views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Source News Ghana. Report errors: markossourcegroup@gmail.com