The president of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo has rejected calls from the populace, business and political experts for the dismissal of Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.According to the president, that will be a betrayal of trust.
The president made this statement during his speech on Kumasi Based OTEC FM as part of his tour of the Ashanti Region, the President said the move to go to the IMF (International Monetary Fund) for a bailout will revamp the economy and put the country back on growth and prosperity in 2024.
“I came to office in 2017 when we were under an IMF programme. This same Ken Ofori-Atta was able to manage the economy for the first 3 to 4 years. We were then one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. We had an average growth rate of 7% a year.”
“For someone who has been able to do all these, how do I turn my back on him? For me, his performance has been excellent. That is why I have great difficulty in understanding what is going on.”
He said the blame to go to the IMF should be blamed on him
“It is very easy for people to say we went back to the IMF due to mismanagement of the economy. I do not accept that criticism because the reasons why we got into the situation we find ourselves in has very little to do with us. In fact, the IMF confirmed this.”
“It was a difficult decision to make, but I think that when you are in the church like I am now, you can not but take such decisions. I am the head of the government and I take full responsibility for it.”
Ghanaians have been very dissatisfied and disappointed with the management of the economy led by the president, his vice president also the head of the economic management team and the finance Minister.
Most Ghanaians blame the economic woes on the governing party NPP (New Patriotic Party) with some Ghanaians making comparisons with the previous government who had fairly good economic policies despite some challenges including the popular ‘Dumsor’.
There seems to be no hope at all for Ghanaians but the IMF may be the only hope as all economic indicators are failing and more trade unions keep grumbling about the economic hardship.
