Speaking in response to ongoing criticisms of the NPP government’s handling of the economy and contentious initiatives like the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) that had come up during the party’s ongoing Thank Yo Tour, Ahiagbah stressed that the erstwhile administration acted responsibly under extremely difficult circumstances.

“The record of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia era is the party’s legacy. We are going to run on that,” he said. “All the decisions — popular or unpopular — were not made with ill intent. The idea was to do the best possible for Ghana.”

He acknowledged that some decisions, such as the DDEP, were “very tough and painful,” but insisted they were necessary to safeguard the country’s long-term stability.

“The DDEP was a very touchy matter and I can tell you that during the early days of the discussions the matters were difficult, they were tough and nobody made those decisions lightly.

“So we are fully aware but the only thing was [that they were]just a necessary decision to make not withstanding the pain. So we did that and today we are heading to a better place,” he said.

Ahiagbah also called on the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to build on the economic progress made rather than reversing key reforms.

“My only prayer is that the NDC who have inherited a better economy will continue to build on it so that the difficult decisions we have taken to bring us this far we don’t regress,” he added.

He reaffirmed the NPP’s intention to campaign on its record, confident that, over time, Ghanaians would come to better appreciate the administration’s performance amid global and domestic challenges.