Bolgatanga Central Member of Parliament Mr Isaac Adongo has proposed to the government to put together a team of experts to be led by an economist Dr Kwame Pianim for the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
He said Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance Charles Adu Boahen should not be part of the team because, in his view, they failed.
Speaking in an interview with TV3 on Saturday, July 2, he said “They need to show good fate by removing the people in government who have brought us here. So Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Biahen should be sacked.
“His Excellency the Vice President constitutionally cannot be removed but his role as head of the economic management team is not constitutionally imperative so they can assign somebody to perform that role and government itself must put together a technical team to negotiate with the IMF. They must get a seasoned, respected person within the NPP if they wish, to lead that team. I will go for Dr Kwame Painim on any day, he has the stature, he has the reputation.”
After years of indicating that it will not seek support from the IMF, the Akufo-Addo government has finally decided to do so.
On Friday, July 1 President Akufo-Addo gave instruction to Mr Ofori-Atta to commence the engagements with the IMF following a telephone conversation between the President and the IMF Managing Director, Miss Kristalina Georgieva, conveying Ghana’s decision to engage with the Fund.
Reacting to this development, Former President John Dramani Mahama welcomed the decision to go to the Bretton Woods institution.
“The Finance Minister who has supervised the disastrous collapse of the economy cannot and should not be part of the team of negotiators. He has lost credibility and the trust and confidence of stakeholders in our economy. President Akufo-Addo must take a bold decision to replace his finance minister immediately with a more assured and competent person who is willing and able to work tirelessly to turn our almost hopeless situation around.
‘In addition, given his obvious failures, the Vice President must be relieved of his responsibility as Chair of the Economic Management Team to enable the President to reconstitute the team. We must draw useful lessons from this episode and avoid cheap politicking with the economy; that can only yield the disastrous outcomes that have brought us here,” Mr Mahama said in a Facebook post on Saturday, July 2.
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana