As Christians across Ghana filled churches for the last night of 2025, many expressed growing anxiety about the future of the nation’s economy and moral direction. Prayer vigils and Covenant Night services held nationwide were marked not only by thanksgiving but also sober contemplation about rising public debt, economic hardship, and the cost of governance. Among the voices calling for national repentance and reform was Apostle Dr. John Kpikpi, Senior Pastor of City of God Church and Founder of the Rebuilding the Nations Foundation in  Accra, who urged the nation to reconsider its borrowing practices. 

Addressing our News team during the December 31 crossover service, Dr. Kpikpi sharply criticised what he described as reckless borrowing under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, especially in financing the Free SHS programme. He argued that the government took on debt not only to consume but to sustain social programmes without investing in wealth-creating projects, a practice he said was deeply flawed.

 “As a nation, we just borrowed to consume and borrowed money to use to feed school children in our SHS — free SHS programme was being funded from international sources on borrowed money. We should never have done that. “And sometimes we borrow, and not only do we consume it, we actually even mismanaged and steal the money so the money doesn’t get into even the projects that we designed them, we designed to put the money into. “So there has been very poor stewardship in the management of finances… There should be no borrowing for consumption as a nation. No, no, no.”

Dr. Kpikpi said borrowing for consumption including funding programmes like Free SHS  should be rejected in favour of loans that are invested in ventures capable of generating economic returns. “If you borrow 10 million Ghana cities and you invest it in a school building… you make more money. You can pay that money back very easily,” he said. 

Dr. Kpikpi also used his year-end message to call for a fundamental shift in Ghana’s economic policy. He warned against the country’s identity as a perpetual debtor and called on leaders and citizens to adopt fiscal prudence and focus on productive sectors like agriculture and industry.

“We shouldn’t borrow money to buy food. We shouldn’t borrow money for all these things we’re doing, but rather, whenever we borrow, it should be invested in businesses or in projects that produce wealth as a result. “We have to start taking steps to reduce it… we must minimize borrowing from now on. Let’s not keep adding to it. Rather, let’s find ways of reducing this debt burden. We can do it with very good fiscal policies and also, particularly investing in productive circuits of the economy — agriculture, industry, business… so much money that we can begin to pay back our debt.”

The man of God stressed that Ghana should no longer be known for accumulating sovereign debt at unsustainable levels but rather for harnessing the nation’s productive capacity to generate wealth and prosperity. His message echoed the sentiments of many Ghanaians worried about shrinking fiscal space and the implications of servicing mounting debt. His remarks also reflect growing public concern over Ghana’s rising debt stock, which has exceeded traditional limits tied to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratios under successive governments. 

By Bawa Musah