German ambassador did no wrong with critical remarks of government - NPP MP

Member of Parliament for Okaikoi Central Patrick Boamah has defended the German Ambassador to Ghana over recent comments deemed critical of government in terms of government expenditure.

Last week, Ambassador Daniel Krull’s call for government to reduce expenditure and to down size, was widely reported by the media and subjected to lots of political commentary.

Whiles some commentators backed his call, others have posited that his views were a breach of laid down diplomatic conventions and amounted to undiplomatic involvement in local politics.

MP Patrick Boamah, however, disagreed in an interview he granted to Joy News on Friday, February 24, 2023.

He held that all the views the ambassador raised were not new and that they had previously been mentioned by politicians - those in power and opposition, members of the clergy and civil society groups.

"Some of the issues the German ambassador raised included energy sector debts which were piling, tax to GDP of 12.5%, less than 18% and also budgetary procedures, are well known as are revenue measures before Parliament.

"Diplomacy has evolved, the Germans came to us and we put a message across that this is where we are, we need your assistance with regards with negotiations with Paris Club.

"So, I believe it was in the context of assisting Ghana to achieve a programme, that is why the German ambassador based on a question posed to him made those assertions, I don’t think he violated any rules that requires any diplomatic concerns," he stressed.

Critical comments by German ambassador

Ghana is currently dealing with serious economic hardship and the government in a bid to secure International Monetary Fund (IMF) support to arrest the situation is engaging its foreign lenders for debt restructuring.

While addressing the matter in press engagement last week, the German Ambassador to Ghana emphasised the need for the government of Ghana to take introspective actions while seeking external help.

“I only can compare with other countries like my own and I can just come to the conclusion that the number is much higher than in my country. So that might bring me to the conclusion that maybe there’s room for improvement.

“Well, of course, it depends very much on what kind of expenditures you’re looking at… I’m convinced this is true for if I look at the budget of the German Foreign Ministry of the German government, I’m convinced there are important tasks that can be cut without hurting economic development.

"And I’m convinced without going into details this also is true for Ghana. There are certain expenditures that can be lowered substantially and make an important impact, and it has to be part of the package.

“I mean, I cannot go out to the international community and say I need help, but I’m not willing to cut my own budget expenditures. I have to be careful not to cut the social expenditures that are destroying lives and families. I have to be very careful not to take measures that might negatively impact economic growth.

“But I’m convinced there are many expenditures that could be looked at very carefully and can be lowered substantially,” he said.

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