EMT 'has no constitutional basis' – Majority Leader ‘shields’ Bawumia from NDC attacks

Minority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has disclosed that there is no constitutional basis for the position of Economic Management Team (EMT) and that the overall leader of economic management is the Minister of Finance working at the behest of the president.

The Member of Parliament for Suame said it was curious that whenever the issue of the economy came up, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) quickly roped in Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who is nominally, head of the EMT.

He pointed out that ultimate responsibility for the economy rests with the president citing how despite economic headwinds during the John Atta-Mills-era, then Vice President John Dramani Mahama was not ‘attacked’ as head of EMT.

“When the Minority Group discusses the current economic challenges, they chuck along the Vice President as chair on Economic Management Team of cabinet. President Mills after 2011 had GDP growth rate drop from 14.4% in 2010 to 9.5% in 2011. Into 2012, GDP swung down again, the Vice President (then John Mahama) was chair of EMT but nobody roped him in.

“The reason is that the Finance Minister manages the economy for and on behalf of the president not the Vice President. In the cabinet set up, in the committee system, the Vice President is not the chairman of the Economic Committee. Vice Presidents have never been.

“In fact, I should tell you that the Economic Management Team has no constitutional basis…. So, when people talk about this, it is just because they want to give the Vice President a bad name, like the proverbial dog, just give it a bad name and hang it,” he submitted.

The MP who also doubles as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs made the submissions on Tuesday, December 6, 2022 during his final submissions on the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government debate in Parliament.

Ghana is currently facing economic headwinds with a domestic debt programme facing opposition from stakeholders - largely from institutional bondholders.

Government is hoping to close a deal on debt restructuring at home in order to be able to access an International Monetary Fund (IMF) facility to support the failing economy.

Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta on December 6 announced that government was restructuring bonds held by institutional investors, putting them into four groups stretching 15 years. With interest also spread in four tranches in four years.

The Domestic Debt Exchange programme as it is called has faced some stiff opposition from major professional groups and workers union in the country.

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