Finance Ministry Is Incompetent -Ex-MP

Cooling off his heels in London after rejection by his constituents to represent them in the 2000 Parliament elections, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Dade Kotopon on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sylvester A. Mensah, has taken a swipe at the Finance Ministry describing it as one with ?disturbing competence and credentials.?

Commenting on the $300 million China New Technic Construction Investment (CNTCI) loan agreement with Ghana, in an article to be published in the next edition of the Crusading Guide, Mr Mensah said it (loan agreement) was a repeat of the infamous IFC loan agreement.

Obviously parroting his party?s position on the matter, Mensah accused the Kufour administration of lack of financial discretion that had combined sadly with ?a poor economic management capacity led by a Finance Ministry with disturbing competence and credentials.?

Mensah in his article headed ?Pulling The Plug On JAK ? 27 Weeks More To Go?, said the Ghanaian economy was ?hardly making any progress with the New Patriotic Party?s (NPP?s) mistaken policies and unsuccessful implementation of accurate NDC ? handover policies notably on roads, local government and education.?

According to him, the sustained upward adjustment in significant tax items including petroleum products and utilities was impacting negatively on Ghanaians. He asserted, ?without any elaborate research and survey, it can be gathered that the dependency ratio in the country has shot through the roof.?

Mensah indicated that the Government was dubiously making political capital out of the rising foreign remittances that Ghanaians had received over the past three years. According to him, the rise in the foreign remittances was ?a pointer to deteriorating and declining economic and social conditions or ordinary Ghanaians.?

The ex-MP accused the NPP Government of prosecuting economic policies that have obliterated the middle class that is supposed to provide economic support for those in the lower class.