IMF team arrives in Ghana
Gabby Otchere-Darko slammed for IMF justification
Chief Biney Nixon, the Deputy National Organizer of the National Democratic Congress, has questioned the presence of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on the committee that will hold discussions with the International Monetary Fund on Ghana’s challenging economy.
Chief Biney protested on UTV that President Akufo-Addo lacks the competence to negotiate with the IMF as he always referred matters of the economy to either the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia or Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
He averred that President Akufo-Addo’s decision is shielding Bawumia from public attack with his decision to leave him out of the engagements.
“There is a charade going on. The President does not want Ghanaians to feel that he is backing the man (Bawumia) responsible for our mess. In the history of NPP and Ghana, we were made to believe that Bawumia is the economic Wizkid so why is he not the one leading the committee. President Akufo-Addo has never positioned himself as an economist.
“In most cases he either refers to Finance Minister or Bawumia so why is he leading it now? Is he shielding the Economic Messiah? I’m disappointed in Akufo-Addo because he positioned himself as someone competent enough to handle the president but so far his administration has proven otherwise”, he said.
In a message to the IMF, Chief Biney urged the institute to exhort its minds to the role nepotism and dishonesty played in Ghana’s economic quagmire.
He stated that the President’s unwillingness to sack Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta due to their relationship is a major factor to the current mess.
He also lashed out at the government for not being honest with Ghanaians, stressing that the government deliberately tried to hide important information from the public.
“IMF should not downplay nepotism as a contributory factor in the mess the economy is in currently. That act of nepotism has affected the country so much. A clear example is the president’s unwillingness to fire his cousin Ken Ofori-Atta. If it were any other person, the president would have fired him.
“They are not being honest with us. Just last week, the Deputy Minister of Finance was saying government would not go to IMF. The dishonesty is that government is not an event. It involves planning,” he said.
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah on Monday, July 4 announced that the taskforce would be led by President Akufo-Addo with Ken Ofori-Atta and his ministry placed in charge of data.
“The President is chairing the task force, the Finance Minister and his team are from today, leading the data-sharing exercise. When they are done the Mission Chief and the President will have a number of conversations. The President has already spoken to the Managing Director of the Fund itself.”
The Ofoase Ayirebi lawmaker added, “The first part of the conversation is sharing of data. The data has its interpretation and the data will tell us what we qualify for and what we don’t qualify for.”
GA/WA
NDC Deputy National Orgaaniser, Chief Biney Nixon