IFC Negotiators Must Resign - Prof Mills

Former Vice President, Professor John Attah Mills, has waded into the debate over the controversial International Financial Consortium (IFC) loan and called on the key negotiators to resign honourably. There have been mixed reactions ever since Finance Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo announced government’s decision not to pursue the IFC loan.
The Minority NDC was the first to call on the Finance Minister and the Governor of Bank of Ghana to resign. On Wednesday, the Leader of the GCPP, Dan Lartey urged government to prosecute members of the Economic Management Team for causing financial loss to the state.
Professor Mills also says in a statement that Senior Minister and Head of the government's Economic Management Team, J. H Mensah, the Finance Minister and the Governor of Bank of Ghana "have displayed gross incompetence and lack of candour in their dealings with the people of Ghana. Their credibility is zero and their continued stay in office will hold back the progress of the economy."
He described the government's failure to obtain the one billion dollar loan from "mysterious sources" as "a disgrace and humiliation to the nation."
Prof Mills said: "Anywhere else in the world, especially in a parliamentary system, the whole government would have had to resign but under our presidential system where it is difficult for the President and the government to resign and leave a total political vacuum, some heads must certainly roll."
He said the IFC disaster was the result of the government's failure to listen to sound advice and consult people with the relevant experiences in international financial transactions.
Prof Mills challenged the negotiators to explain the basis on which the government nominated people to the join the company to manage the projects and the many trips officials made abroad to process the loan if no sovereign guarantee was issued. “If no guarantee had been issued, what was the need for all those steps since the sovereign guarantee was a pre-requisite to loan disbursement?"
The aspiring NDC Presidential candidate also questioned the rationale behind rushing the loan through Parliament last July "if it was not to beat a deadline imposed by the IFC for receiving the guarantee." He also condemned government’s arguments that the money was urgently needed to fund its capital projects saying "the fact that you need money does not mean you should go just anywhere to try to obtain it".

Former Vice President, Professor John Attah Mills, has waded into the debate over the controversial International Financial Consortium (IFC) loan and called on the key negotiators to resign honourably. There have been mixed reactions ever since Finance Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo announced government’s decision not to pursue the IFC loan.
The Minority NDC was the first to call on the Finance Minister and the Governor of Bank of Ghana to resign. On Wednesday, the Leader of the GCPP, Dan Lartey urged government to prosecute members of the Economic Management Team for causing financial loss to the state.
Professor Mills also says in a statement that Senior Minister and Head of the government's Economic Management Team, J. H Mensah, the Finance Minister and the Governor of Bank of Ghana "have displayed gross incompetence and lack of candour in their dealings with the people of Ghana. Their credibility is zero and their continued stay in office will hold back the progress of the economy."
He described the government's failure to obtain the one billion dollar loan from "mysterious sources" as "a disgrace and humiliation to the nation."
Prof Mills said: "Anywhere else in the world, especially in a parliamentary system, the whole government would have had to resign but under our presidential system where it is difficult for the President and the government to resign and leave a total political vacuum, some heads must certainly roll."
He said the IFC disaster was the result of the government's failure to listen to sound advice and consult people with the relevant experiences in international financial transactions.
Prof Mills challenged the negotiators to explain the basis on which the government nominated people to the join the company to manage the projects and the many trips officials made abroad to process the loan if no sovereign guarantee was issued. “If no guarantee had been issued, what was the need for all those steps since the sovereign guarantee was a pre-requisite to loan disbursement?"
The aspiring NDC Presidential candidate also questioned the rationale behind rushing the loan through Parliament last July "if it was not to beat a deadline imposed by the IFC for receiving the guarantee." He also condemned government’s arguments that the money was urgently needed to fund its capital projects saying "the fact that you need money does not mean you should go just anywhere to try to obtain it".