Franklin Cudjoe, the President of IMANI Africa, has accused former President Akufo-Addo of mismanaging billions of dollars in COVID-19 funds during the pandemic.
The think tank president cited findings from a special audit into the COVID-19 funds, noting that only 40 per cent of the money received was properly used to tackle the pandemic and economic fallout.
In a social media post, Franklin Cudjoe stated, “We lived it, saw it, complained, and Nana Akufo-Addo ignored us. In fact, Nana and his gang received almost $2bn in free money to fight off Covid-19 and its impact on our economy.
“They raided the accounts and shared the money mostly among party faithfuls,” he wrote.
He further referenced a recent report by the World Bank saying, “In its 2025 Policy Notes on Ghana, the Bank was unequivocal; ‘The deterioration of global conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine was not the cause of the 2022 macroeconomic crisis; rather, it merely exposed an economy already beset with deep structural vulnerabilities and precarious macroeconomic conditions’”.
Meanwhile, the World Bank has dismissed the Akufo-Addo administration’s long-standing claims that Ghana’s 2022 economic collapse was driven by global shocks.
For years, the former Akufo-Addo government and appointees attributed the severity of Ghana’s economic downturn, surging inflation, and a free-falling currency to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The World Bank, however, argues that domestic policy failures were decisive.
According to the World Bank, the former Akufo-Addo government’s economic collapse was self-inflicted, citing weak governance, fiscal indiscipline, and delayed reforms.
In the World Bank 2025 Policy Notes on Ghana, it reads, “The deterioration of global conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine was not the cause of the 2022 macroeconomic crisis; rather, it merely exposed an economy already beset with deep structural vulnerabilities and precarious macroeconomic conditions.”
“Sudden macroeconomic stops and crises have led the country to request a record number of IMF programs, remaining under active IMF support for 40 out of its 68 years of history,” the Bank noted.
The Bank further cautioned, “Spending indiscipline poses a critical challenge to Ghana’s macro-fiscal stability… the absence of stringent expenditure controls frequently results in budget overruns and excessive borrowing, undermining efforts to maintain fiscal discipline and compromising long-term sustainability”.
The World Bank stressed that Temporary fixes will not suffice, “There is an urgent need to signal a clear break from the past and a commitment to change… Success will ultimately be measured by the ability of the government to regain the trust of its citizens.”