Kwesi Pratt accuses NPP government of deceit and hypocrisy

The ruling Nana Akufo-Addo-led government has been accused of deceit following the extension of the IMF programme.

The current administration has extended the programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) even though the President during his maiden encounter with the media at the Flagstaff House stated that the deal will not be extended after it ends in December 2018.

At a meeting between government and the Executive Board of the IMF, the deal was extended to April 2019.

However, the Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr says government is deceiving Ghanaians by saying the programme will end in April 2019.

According to him to say that the programme will end next year is a ‘lie’ because, “at the expiration of the programme, there is what is called completion exercise; that takes another year. Let nobody deceive himself or herself; that sometime in 2019, we are going to get out of this programme; it’s not possible. This programme will last until the end of 2020; nothing will change; what the NPP criticised in opposition is what they have embraced and it will live with us till 2020 . . . Look the government has not been truthful with us on this question of the IMF. This IMF deal is going to last until 2020 and the government’s promise of pulling out of the IMF deal will not be realised . . . ”

He was of the view that the NPP administration is being hypocritical as far as the IMF programme is concerned because they criticised the erstwhile Mahama administration for going in for it and promised to abrogate it when they come to power; however, when they came to power, they have extended it.

“It is important to go back and see the different positions that has been taken by the current government . . . I recall in one of the lectures that was given by Dr Mahamudu Bawumia; he made the point that we are facing a lot of difficulty as a people; people are not getting employment into the public service; freeze on public expenditure and so on and that all that was the result of the deal we had made with the IMF and he made the point that if the New Patriotic Party was elected the deal with the IMF will be completely abrogated; that was the first position.

Then that position changed again; and then they told us that if they were elected, they will review the agreement and then that position changed again after election and then they said look we cannot get everything that we want . . . and therefore we will end the program in April 2018.

Now, that position has changed again and we are being told that the programme has been extended for another year and that that program will end in April 2019. My friends, that is another lie . . . we are headed for worst times under the regime of the International Monetary Fund and its sister organisation,” he said during a panel discussion on Radio Gold’s 'Alhaji and Alhaji' programme, Saturday.