Leading member of the New Patriotic Party, Dr Richard Amoako Baah says the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta should be blamed for the state of Ghana’s economy.
According to him, the minister as the driver of Ghana’s economy had become intoxicated from 'partying' and engaging in reckless borrowing leading the country into an economic mess.
“The driver was drunk. They were all about eating kenkey and contracting loans without thinking about the fact that we will have to repay the loans. Now as I talk to you, we are still borrowing. But if being finance minister was all about borrowing, we all could be in that office,” Dr Amoako Baah said on Okay FM’s morning show.
Dr Amoako Baah who is a senior political science lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology added that President Akufo-Addo should be slapped with the ultimate blame for the state of the economy.
“I don’t blame the finance minister alone; I blame the president himself. You brought him and trusted him but he should have also known when things were going wrong. He just sat aloof and watched on, what is the meaning of that? The president is the first person to blame before you come to the finance minister,” he said.
In March 2019, the ministry of finance led by Ken Ofori-Atta held a Kenkey party to celebrate what it tagged as a “hat-trick” for Ghana.
The party according to the ministry was to mark a successful Eurobond issuance, the completion of an IMF-ECF programme and the appreciation of the Cedi at the time.
About four years down the line, Ghana’s economy is facing severe challenges with the country seeking an IMF bailout to prevent a total collapse.
The cedi has sorely depreciated against major trading currencies while the government is seeking to manage the country’s ballooning debt through a debt exchange programme.
The current situation has seen the finance minister receiving blame with some of his critics calling for his removal from office by the president.
GA/SARA
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