Mark Assibey-Yeboah, former Member of Parliament for New Juaben South Constituency has evaded a question as to whether or not he would take the job of Minister of Finance if it is offered to him.
The one-time chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament has been one of the prominent names put forward to replace Ken Ofori-Atta in case President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo decides to remove his embattled cousin.
Question on taking Ofori-Atta’s job
The host of the programme asked whether Assibey-Yeboah will take the Minister of Finance portfolio if it becomes vacant but the former MP refused to give a categorical response.
He chose instead to give an analogy using the English Premier League.
“If you were offered the position of finance minister at this time, would you take it?” the host asked, to which the former MP responded: “I don’t think it is a matter of who takes the job now, the question I would ask you is, if you offered Mourinho the Bournemouth job, would he take it?”
Asked whether he saw Ghana as akin to the lowly-placed EPL side, he responded: “I haven’t said so.”
Where was Assibey-Yeboah speaking
The former MP was a guest on Accra-based TV3 discussing the state of the economy with focus on the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange programme.
Fellow panelist attempts interpretation:
Senyo Hosi, a convener of Individual Bondholders Forum (IBF), who was in studio, explained what he understood by Assibey-Yeboah’s position and his proverbial response to the question.
He said: “I think what he wants to say is that, it is okay if Mourinho wants to go to Bournemouth but everybody needs to appreciate that you are dealing with Bournemouth so it will take a while before you turn it into a Chelsea.”
Background
Ghana had a torrid 2022 amid an economic crisis that forced the government to seek an International Monetary Fund (IMF) facility at a time when the cedi was rapidly depreciating, inflation was galloping, and the government was faced with multiple downgrades by rating agencies.
The government has repeatedly blamed the crisis partly on the aftershocks of the COVID pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
It has promised to turn around the economic fortunes of the country after sealing a staff-level agreement with the IMF late last year, with hopes that funds from the US$3 billion facility will be released early this year.
The government is hamstrung by hurdles as it attempts to secure a deal with its Domestic Debt Exchange programme.
Organized labour successfully fought off plans to include pensions in the DDE; now individual bondholders are also rejecting plans to include them.
Watch video of Assibey-Yeboah's submission below:
Mark Assibey-Yeboah