Former Attorney General and Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has taken aim at the continuous political rivalry between Ghana's two major political parties, describing their approach to governance as a "crabs in a basket" mentality.
Amidu lamented how successive governments have failed to build upon past achievements in the national interest in an open letter reacting to President John Dramani Mahama's seventh State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered in Parliament on February 27, 2025. "As part of the conflict interaction for the 2025 SONA season, the NPP, which challenges the narrative of the 2025 SONA, is gearing to present its version of the economy as has always been the case after every first government SONA at the beginning of a new political party government transition since 2001," Amidu stated, pointing to a trend where opposing parties use the occasion to discredit each other rather than foster national unity.
He warned that the upcoming policy and budget statement, to be presented by the Minister for Finance on March 11, 2025, is likely to worsen the situation rather than promote cooperation. "The signs are that the Minister for Finance's policy and budget statement to be presented on 11 March 2025 intends to deepen rather than lessen inter-party acrimony and hamper cooperation for collective national development," he noted.
Amidu highlighted that this cycle of political blame-shifting has repeated itself over the years, recalling similar occurrences in 2009 and 2017.
