Ken Ofori-Atta, finance minister
Since my secondary school days in the late 1990s, I still remember a high-sounding sentence used by the ‘Big English man’, the late Papa Nii Papafio (Henry Harding) in a TT Taxi Driver series which goes like this ‘The eschatological incumbrance of our immaculate ability is never achieved without self-aggrandizement’. Simply put, ‘if you want to get to the top, you must work extremely hard’.
The NPP Party is known to be parading itself as a Party having the ‘Men’. Where are those ‘Men’ in this Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led regime? The NPP badly wants to break the 8 with this appalling show of performance in government. Really?
This particular governing NPP regime led by Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia came to power on the back of a 1:1 ratio of month-watering electoral promises in the lead-up to the 2016 general elections.
For instance, the NPP promised Ghanaians month-watering promises like the 1D1F, 1V1D, $1M1C, etc. and unfortunately, Ghanaian voters fell for such too-good-to-be-true NPP promises in 2016 but they are now simply political sloganeering.
In the same vein, other promises included building new 350 schools within 18 months, eliminating water and toilet problems and moving away from taxation to production, etc. to address practical developmental challenges in Ghana’s Guggisbergian economy under this government never saw the light of day.
Under the leadership of former President Mahama, a 40-year development plan for Ghana was developed for implementation.
Unfortunately, when the Mahama-led government left power in 2016, this current Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led regime abandoned it and replaced it with the ‘Ghana beyond Aid’ mantra.
According to the NPP, the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ development plan was meant to address practical challenges in Ghana’s Guggisbergian economy and move away from taxation to production to enable Ghana to move away from the assistance of Western Powers.
The mantra of ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ was alive in the first term of this government. However, the real impact of the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ plan on the livelihoods of ordinary Ghanaians leaves much to be desired in the second term of this government.
Instead of the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led regime focusing on prudent management of Ghana’s meagre resources, the regime blamed almost everything on the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine invasion and left corruption to fester in government circles and engaged in unbridled borrowing.
The mismanagement of the economy has landed it into a terrible state and the economy was simply surviving only to be crushed later.
It was apparent that the economy was heading in the wrong direction and going to the IMF for a bailout was the only option left.
President Akufo-Addo himself, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and his deputy Finance Minister, Dr. John Kumah variously and boldly declared that Ghana was a proud nation and as long as the NPP remains in office, Ghana will NEVER go to the IMF!
The next step taken after such so-called patriotic statements from Ken Ofori-Atta and Dr. John Kumah, Nana Akufo-Addo ordered Ken Ofori-Atta to engage the IMF for a Staff Level Agreement, leading to the approved $3 billion loan.
The prior actions required of Ghana for the approval of the IMF bailout included, but not limited to, the painful DDEP as well as the introduction of new taxes implemented which have made the living conditions worse now.
Ghana's government was begging for Aid by its actions. For instance, President Akufo-Addo begged the German Government to talk to China to intervene, irresponsibly criticizing Burkina Faso’s Coup d’état and its leaders leading to a recall of their Ambassador and not staying away from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War votings at the UN Security Council.
The desperate actions of this government and the shameful U-turn position on the $3 billion IMF bailout is a confirmation that Ghana has become a nation with a cup in hand begging for Aid to barely survive instead of a nation beyond Aid.
Indeed, the U-turn on the ongoing IMF bailout negotiated and procured by this governing NPP Party confirms NPP’s mantra of ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ has now become ‘Ghana Begging for Aid’.
We cannot, therefore, call ourselves a ‘proud nation’ as Finance Minister; Ken Ofori-Atta wants us to believe. This NPP regime under the leadership of Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia has woefully disappointed Ghanaians!