Akufo-Addo’s government must resign over economy - James Enu

A former Parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress in the Tema West Constituency branch of the party, Lawyer James Enu, has called for the resignation of the Akufo-Addo government over the current economic mess.

In a statement issued in Accra on Tuesday, Lawyer Enu, as he is popularly called, described the current motion of censure against Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, as a “tip-toe around the elephant in the room”, pointing out that if the government were to be really penitent of the mess it has caused, it would have resigned en-bloc.

“Fish rots from the head and governments lose the people’s confidence from the failings of the whole machinery of state that they set up. And so, it is a joke that we have a situation where one person is being sacrificed for the failings of a whole government,” Lawyer Enu wrote.

According to him, “if this government had any ounce of dignity left, the first person who would have resigned would be president Akufo-Addo himself, before everyone else will follow.”

The call comes as President Akufo-Addo’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is facing a motion of censure in parliament over the economy which is plagued by supernormal inflation, high costs of living and doing business and heavy taxes.

Ofori-Atta is facing the motion of censure after many MPs from his own ruling party, the NPP, decided to take a stance against him.

However, according to Lawyer Enu, Ofori-Atta a small fish who is unfairly being punished for the failings of the economic management team headed by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia.

“It is true that Ofori-Atta is a part of the economic management team of the Akufo-Addo government but he does not head it, the one who heads it is Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia.

“If the team has failed, the first person you would expect to show dignity and resign is none other than the head, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,” Lawyer Enu wrote.

He also added that President Akufo-Addo is “the ultimate person with whom the buck stops,” and so he, “should show good example by resigning first before Ofori-Atta is even kicked out.”

In the absence of the President and the Vice President, Lawyer Enu pointed out that the Speaker of Parliament, will, by constitutional prescription become the next interim leader of the country.

“And so, there is no need for any confusion as to what will happen if the President and the Vice President do the honourable thing and resign. We will have an interim government headed by the Speaker of Parliament.”

In the past, Lawyer Enu has dismissed Dr. Bawumia as an over-hyped braggart who did not have what it takes to manage an economy.

However, he was ignored as Bawumia was hoisted as economics whiz kid by the NPP.

After it won elections in 2016 and 2020 however, the NPP’s economic management team under Bawumia has failed miserably to properly manage the economy, putting the economy in a mess.