‘Involve citizens in IMF negotiations’

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) operating in the country have called on government to involve Ghanaians in the negotiations for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to the CSOs, the concerns of the citizens must be taken into account with regards to the IMF bailout.

“It is important to state that the final agreement on the bailout will be for the people of Ghana, hence the need for broad consultation with citizens during the course of the negotiations,” the Civil Society Platform on the IMF Bailout said on Tuesday at its national consultation in Accra.

Chairperson of the Platform, Joseph Winful, in a remark at the event, which was on the theme, “Facilitating national dialogue and advocating for effective implementation of IMF Bailout for Ghana” said government has the mandate to negotiate on behalf of the people, however we want to be part of the decision-making process because it is going to affect us.”

Ghana’s team is being led by Dr Kwesi Botchway, with Minister of Finance Seth Terkper and Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Kofi Wampah as members of the technical team.

Under the three-year IMF programme, the government of Ghana is expected to receive a total amount of $1.5 billion from the IMF.

Vice President of Imani Ghana, Kofi Bentil, in a statement at the forum, pointed out that “the bailout is a reflection of the failure of Ghana, a reflection or inability to solve our own problem.”

He said corruption and reckless spending by some government officials had hampered the economic advancement of the country.

An economist from the University of Ghana, Dr. Godfred A. Bokpin, in a presentation, stressed that the economic stability of the country should not be achieved at the expense of the poor.

He emphasized the need for government to control its expenditure and find innovative ways of raising revenue domestically.

The CS Platform is made up of IMANI Ghana, Send-Ghana, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Financial Accountability and Transparency, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs, Penplusbytes and Oxfam.