John Kpikpi says Ghana’s major parties have failed to lay economic foundations

Progressive Alliance for Ghana flagbearer Dr John Enyonam Kpikpi has challenged the credibility of promises in the 2027 Budget, arguing that neither the governing National Democratic Congress nor the opposition New Patriotic Party has shown it can deliver the economic transformation Ghana needs. In his response to the budget presented by Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Kpikpi said the two parties had shared political control for nearly 34 years since the return to constitutional rule in 1992, yet, in his view, had not put basic economic foundations in place. He questioned why voters should now trust them to achieve food self-sufficiency, saying he saw no durable national plan for that goal. Kpikpi also pointed to previous agricultural initiatives, including the guinea fowl project and the Nkitinkitin programme, as examples he believes illustrate the shortcomings of past efforts. He criticised what he described as the failure of those interventions to produce sustainable results. The PAG flagbearer further questioned the government’s renewed emphasis on adding value to Ghana’s minerals. He cited the country’s lithium arrangement, claiming that calls for a stronger deal and local processing had been rejected. Kpikpi argued that this sat uneasily with the budget’s stated focus on mineral value addition and asked what had changed in the political establishment’s approach. His remarks amount to a broad attack on both major parties’ records rather than an endorsement of either side. Kpikpi’s central contention is that years of political control have not delivered the foundations he says are needed for food security and for more of the wealth from Ghana’s natural resources to benefit people in the country.