President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been commended for avoiding his usual expensive luxury jets to fly commercially during his recent Ghana-Egypt-USA trip.
According to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who has serially tracked presidential travels for the past two years, the president for the longest period avoided flying a €20,000-an-hour luxury jet.
The North Tongu lawmaker indicated further that Akufo-Addo in his entire itinerary flew commercially until he arrived home on Friday, November 11, 2022, aboard British Airways.
He is hopeful that since the country is seeking an IMF bailout, the president will continue flying commercially to save the Ghanaian taxpayer millions of cedis.
“Since we started our unimpeachable tracking of President Akufo-Addo’s condemnable oligarchic travels some 2 years ago, this has been the longest period he’s avoided €20,000-an-hour luxury jets.
“I can confirm that on his latest Ghana-Egypt-USA trip, the President flew commercial during his entire itinerary and returned Friday night (11/11/2022) aboard British Airways flight BA81 at 8:57 PM,” Samuel Okudzeto Ablakaw’s post on Sunday, November 13 read.
“We all sincerely hope President Akufo-Addo will continue on this responsible path of saving the Ghanaian taxpayer millions of Cedis, especially when the IMF bailout arrives, he said.
“We shall keep tracking, for God and Country. Ghana must be really broke,” Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa stressed.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reiterated calls for the reform of the UN Security Council, describing its current structure as unfair to African countries.
According to him, the council was constrained by its anachronistic structure and methods, which undermined efforts to tackle contemporary challenges in the most effective manner.
“The conversations around reforms, which have been going on for three decades, without an end in sight, must, therefore, yield real changes to the structures of the council to make it innovative in its approach,” he added.
The President was speaking at an event organised by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in New York, US, last Wednesday.
Current structure
According to him, the current structure of the council represented a long-standing injustice towards African countries, saying the time was long overdue to address the imbalance.
“It is obvious that the contemporary world has moved on significantly from the post-1945 world which gave rise to the birth of the UN and the structure of the Security Council.
“The world of 2022, and even less that of 2050, is not the world of 1945. The crisis of the multilateral financial institutions and the UN system, which were born from the rubble of the Second World War, is a deep crisis,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo further said the situation would continue “until a fair system is put in place, a system that reflects the new balances, no longer based on who lost or won the Second World War but on the major contemporary and future balances”.
“These balances must take into account new realities, such as demographic dynamics or access to resources in the context of scarcity,” he added.
Rule of law
As the situation stood now, the President said, the council was finding it increasingly difficult to propagate the rule of law and democratic principles.
“The use of the veto as an instrument of great power and interest is denuding the council of a great deal of legitimacy as the principal instrument for the maintenance of international peace and security.
“The African Common Position on UN Reforms, based on the Ezulwini Consensus, is of even greater relevance today than it has ever been. It is essential that it be brought back to the centre of global discourse,” he said.
According to the President, it would only be through the reforms suggested in the African Common Position that the council would be effective in addressing the challenges of the times.
“And it is only through its effectiveness at maintaining international peace and security that the council can remain credible, legitimate and relevant,” he added.
Businessman Dr Kofi Amoah, affectionately called Citizen Kofi has bemoaned the decision of the microblogging platform Twitter to close down its Ghana and Africa offices.
The decision to close down the Ghana and Africa office of Twitter comes after the platform was acquired by billionaire Elon Musk.
Earlier this month, Twitter fired nearly all its staff in Ghana, which was home to its only office in Africa.
The layoffs according to sources close to the business were part of a global staff cull introduced by new boss Elon Musk.
Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, has been laying off staff worldwide. He said he had “no choice” but to slash the company’s workforce as the firm was losing more than $4m (£3.5m) a day.
Last year, Twitter opened its Ghana office amidst some fanfare with the Ghana president Nana Akufo Addo touting its immense benefits.
Twitter in a statement after arriving in Africa said it was motivated by the desire to “be more immersed in the rich and vibrant communities that drive the conversations taking place every day across the African continent.”
News of the closure of the Ghana and Africa office was shocking and saddening to many but Dr Kofi Amoah says while it is a painful reality, he wants the episode to spur young African techies to create their own platform.
In a Twitter post on Thursday, 10 November 2022, Dr Amoah wrote, “Yes, the strength of a continent lies in her people. Can the story of Twitter closing its African office end more beautifully: A group of techie young Africans, Nigeria/Kenya/Ghana, have announced the formation of Twitter-Africa named AKASANOMA, funded by the AfDB.”
Dr Amoah has in recent years been leading a charge for Africa to have its own homegrown solutions to the many problems that bedevil the continent.
Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery says government is committed to justice for the victims and families of those who died during the 2020 elections.
At least five people died in separate violent incidents across the country during the election that saw president Akufo-Addo win a second term.
Two years after the incidents, there have been no arrests or prosecutions.
At a press conference, the Interior Minister promised government’s willingness to get to the bottom of the murders.
“We want to investigate the murders and the investigations are ongoing. The police service did not have a department that handles cold cases, but now it has. As soon as we find the people, we will deal with them, but I can assure you that we are investigating those people who were killed.”
For instance, in the last polls, two persons lost their lives in the Techiman South constituency after being hit by warning shots from security personnel, while six others sustained gunshot wounds.
The incident started after a misunderstanding ensued over the declaration of the election results.
Members of the NPP in the constituency, in March 2021, petitioned the Interior Ministry to investigate the shooting incident.
Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, the Member of Parliament for the area, has said some measures are being taken to secure justice for persons who suffered the brutalities.
He said the violence is regrettable and must not recur.
The MP has stated that he is aware that police investigations into the matter have been concluded and that there would be further action on the outcome soon.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has described Climate Change as a “global emergency”, and has urged the developed world to redeem a thirteen 13-year-old pledge to make available $100 billion annually to help developing countries fight the scourge of climate change.
Delivering Ghana’s national statement at the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, or COP27, on Tuesday, 8th November 2022, President Akufo-Addobemoaned the fact that climate adaptation costs are currently outstripping current international public finance flows.
According to the President, “we must, as a matter of urgency, mobilise and scale up adaptation finance inflows, to ensure that vulnerable countries are able to meet their adaptation needs.”
He continued, “It is critical, in this regard, that the developed world makes good its long-delayed pledge to mobilise and make available $100 billion annually to the poorer countries to assist in the fight against climate change, and commit, as agreed at COP 26 in Glasgow, to doubling resources for adaptation.”
It will be recalled that 13 years ago, at a United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen, the rich nations of the world promised to channel $100 billion a year to developing countries by 2020, to help them adapt to climate change, and mitigate further rises in temperature.
President Akufo-Addonoted that extreme climate occurrences, such as severe precipitation and floods, prolonged drought and heat waves are happening all over the world, both in the developed and developing worlds.
“Climate change is a global emergency, and Ghana calls on all Parties to act with equity and a sense of responsibility,” he said.
Africa, for her part, the President stressed, must commit herself to resolving the issue of climate change by implementing ambitious measures within her reach.
With Africa’s vast land, he stated that Africa has the greatest potential to help decarbonise the world by absorbing carbon dioxide through regenerative agriculture, which requires fewer fertilisers, and reforestation with strong biodiversity content.
“Climate change is a global emergency, and Ghana calls on all Parties to act with equity and a sense of responsibility,” he said.
“My government is happy to announce that Ghana is about to launch projects in these areas, which will tackle, at the same time, climate change at global and domestic levels, and social issues, by providing people with dignified and sustainable jobs, and I am also happy to announce that Ghana has launched her Energy Transition Framework, and is co-Chair of the Forest Climate Leaders’ Partnership with the United States of America,” President Akufo-Addo said.
As President of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, the President expressed delight at the announcement made by the Managing Director of International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, on the operationalisation of the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), to help vulnerable countries meet their long-term challenges.
In furtherance of this, he called for a “radical restructuring of the global financial architecture”, as proposed by the African Finance Ministers, to accommodate the demands of the developing world is of urgent necessity, adding that “it is evident that with these poly-crises that it is not fit for purpose. I also urge those who hold African debt to commit to debt-for-climate swap initiatives.”
Whilst urging the world to take a better look at Africa as “a land of opportunities and growth”, in spite of the dire situation most of the continent finds itself in today, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Akufo-Addo stated that “as far as an adaptation to climate change is concerned, nothing can happen without Africa”.
With its vast, arable land, vibrant youth who aspire only to take their rightful place on the global scene, and a deeply rooted sense of innovation, he stated that Africa has a massive role to play.
“It is Ghana’s hope that we will leave this Summit with bold and concrete decisions that will help the world tackle its most pressing challenges, help us achieve our climate goals rapidly, and provide the needed development and prosperity for all the peoples of the world. No one will win if Africa loses”, he said.
According to Mrs Cynthia Asare Bediako, per reports from a state media house, the majority of the delegation, consisting of state and none-state actors, were funded by development partners.
“It is the responsibility of MESTI to coordinate and register persons attending the annual meeting. This does not mean the government is sponsoring all of these delegates. Delegates traveling on government’s ticket are not many.”
“Their funding is sourced from different agencies, including Global Environment Facility- UNFCCC, World Bank, Climate Vulnerability Forum, UNDP and UNICEF. These agencies also sponsor some government of Ghana officials to participate in the conference,” she said.
COP27 is the meeting of countries to take action towards achieving the world’s collective climate goals under the Paris Agreement and the Convention.
Building on the outcomes and momentum of COP 26 in Glasgow last year, the nations are expected to demonstrate at COP 27 that they are in a new era of implementation by turning their commitments under the Paris Agreement into action.
The conference is from 6th to 8th November, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Responding to the question of the high number of delegates, she said but for inadequate funding, Ghana required “many people to participate in the many technical negotiations at the annual conference”.
“The more people attend the conference the better it is for Ghana because they will learn and understand the issues. They will then support the implementation of the climate plans.
“The COP is also a platform to raise funds and forge partnerships for technical support. We need more technical hands to help,” she said.
At the Pre-COP Press Conference on Thursday, 3rd November 2022, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, the Minister of MESTI, explained that out of a total of 322 people attending, 226 were from government institutions.
About 72 were non-state actors and 24 from Climate Vulnerable Forum.
“Half of the number on the government platform are NGOs and partner institutions,” he clarified.
“Therefore, the actual government staff attending the COP is about 150.
The people attending this will be participating in diverse programming, including negotiations, workshops, side events and bilateral meetings,” he said.
Ghana is said to require between US$ 9.3 and US$ 15.5 billion of investment to implement the 47 nationally determined contribution measures from 2020 to 2030.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Communications Director, Richard Ahiagbah, has downplayed the growing discontent with the Akufo-Addo government, which has been reflected in polls and recent protests.
Speaking on The Point of View, Mr. Ahiagbah maintained that Ghana’s economic crisis has external causes because “the whole world is not going in the right direction.”
A recent poll by Global Info Analytics has indicated that 77 percent of Ghanaians believe the country is heading in the wrong direction.
This comes amid crippling inflation and fuel prices that have left many Ghanaians frustrated.
But Mr. Ahiagbah remarked that “I think polling in this environment is biased, to begin with, because people’s emotions are in a certain place, so you are going to get a predictable outcome.”
“What is really of consequence is the effort and the commitment of the government that is in power who for some reason is caught up in this global economic downturn,” he added.
But responding to Mr. Ahiagbah on the show, the organiser of the recent ‘Ku Me Preko’ protest, Martin Kpebu slammed the NPP communicator’s remarks.
Mr. Kpebu told him: “don’t ever say that in public again because the more you say people are being emotional, the more people will come at you.”
“Our savings, your money in the bank or under your bed, over 60 percent of its value is gone, and you say people are being emotional?”
Ghana’s former president, John Dramani Mahama, has charged the government to start slashing down its ballooning expenditure from the Office of the President.
In a tweet, John Mahama stated that the budget of the president’s office has ballooned exponentially in the last six years to GH¢ 3.1 billion.
“The budget for the Office of the President has ballooned, over the last six years, from GH¢700m to GH¢ 3.1bn in 2022,” he tweeted.
The former president further advised the government to start cutting down the expenditure of the president’s office, as it could save the country a substantial amount of money.
“For expenditure rationalization to be successful, it must first start in the President’s office. Substantial savings of GH¢1bn can be made by slashing the budget,” he added.
The government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been faced with a lot of economic challenges in the last year, with inflation figures skyrocketing.
Fuel prices and the rate of exchange of the Ghana cedis to the US dollar have also been extremely high in recent months, plunging a lot of businesses into disarray.
See John Mahama’s tweet below:
The budget for the Office of the President has ballooned, over the last six years, from GH¢700m to GH¢ 3.1bn in 2022. For expenditure rationalization to be successful, it must first start in the President’s office. Substantial savings of GH¢1bn can be made by slashing the budget.
Former Member of Parliament (MP) for Kumbungu constituency, Ras Mubarak, has abandoned his luxury lifestyle due to the current economic hardship and increasing cost of living in Ghana.
He joined public transport, popularly called ‘trotro’, over the weekend due to fuel hikes.
The former National Democratic Congress MP was part of the ‘Ku Me Preko’ demonstration in Accra to pile pressure on President Nana Akufo-Addo to resign for his inability to manage the Ghanaian economy.
Ras Mubarak took to Facebook to share his frustration.
A security analyst, Adib Sani, has said protest is an important exercise as it reduces built-up anger against the government in terms of economic crisis.
According to him, protesting prevents people from holding back anger, and speaking out on their frustrations as we are in dangerous times in the country.
“This demonstration is extremely important, the suffering, the uncertainty, the anger is unbelievable and we are saying that it is rather in the best interest on government for us to protest and there is so much anger if people hold it. It will create an explosive charge like the Arab spring, people were angry and they couldn’t talk because they are gagged.”
Adib Sani made the comments at the ‘Kume Preko Reloaded’ demonstration, held on November 5, 2022.
Some Ghanaians showed up in their numbers to demonstrate in demand for better living conditions and also called for the resignation of Akufo-Addo, Bawumia and Ken Ofori-Atta.
The protest started from the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and ended at Black Stars Square in Accra.
President Akufo-Addo has been asked to step down from his position by Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, or face impeachment, according to protestors at the Kume Preko demonstration on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022.
The disgruntled protesters, led by private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu, also sent this notice to Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, whom they expect to resign alongside President Akufo-Addo.
Mr. Kpebu, who made this announcement on behalf of the protesters, justified his call for both parties to step down by pointing to their egregious incapacity and failure to effectively manage the economy as expected of them.
Mr Kpebuaccused the President of creating a conflict of interest by appointing a relative, Mr Ofori-Atta, to head the Finance Ministry.
He also accused the President of enriching himself and his relatives with state funds at the expense of the citizenry.
“I call on the President, his Vice, and the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to resign immediately or latest by Wednesday because for every cedi, for every cedi or every dollar that we borrow as a country, President Akufo-Addo’s family gets richer through Ken Ofori-Atta and that is a clear breach of the Constitution,” he said.
Mr Kpebu has been spearheading a campaign for the President and other top government officials, including the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to resign.
He is baffled by the fact that President Akufo-Addo, one of the prominent personalities who championed the first edition of the Kume Preko demonstration, and vehemently protested the harsh economic conditions at the time, is now head of government, yet he is unable to salvage the dwindling economy.
He, thus, wants the speaker to assume the role of the president while President Akufo-Addo and his deputy, Dr Bawumiarecuse themselves from their roles.
“..when the Speaker of Parliament assumes office as the result of the resignation of the President and his Vice, he must take steps to cushion Ghanaians. Times are hard, isn’t it? Fuel prices have gone up, transport fares have gone up. Teachers are suffering, soldiers are suffering and as we are suffering, the Speaker must reduce the taxes and find innovative ways to make sure that the prices of goods are reduced,” he added.
The demonstration comes amid the current harsh economic conditions. The cedi is fast depreciating, inflation is on the rise, fuel prices have seen a significant surge within a short period, and Ghanaians continue to lament.
They have described the situation as unbearable, especially for the scores of citizens who marched from the Obra spot to Independence Square on Saturday.
A section of Ghanaians who joined the ‘Ku Me Preko Reloaded’ demonstration on November 5, have called on God Almighty to end the life of the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, should he refuse to resign.
According to the aggrieved individuals who were clad in red and black, the President is to blame for the country’s economic woes
They argued that even though life has become so unbearable, the President has failed to dismiss the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, said to be his cousin.
The ‘Ku Me Preko Reloaded’ demonstration was led by private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu who is pushing for the resignation of President Akufo-Addo over Ghana’s current economic woes.
The protestors who massed up at the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange held placards with inscriptions such as: Adinkra Symbol of failure, Boo the President, Sika mpɛ mismanagement, Protect Journalists, impeach the President, the battle over the Lord sef, among others.
NsuomNam is the most-talked-about Ghanaian-owned restaurant in Cantonments causing rifts on social media. According to most, NsuomNam is too expensive, looking at the posture of the owner, who is rumoured to be Edwina Nana Dokua Akufo-Addo, the president’s daughter.
NsuomNam is the restaurant commentator Kelvin Taylor accused the H. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s daughter, Edwina, of using Ghanaians’ money to set up. Taylor also insinuated that the ordinary Ghanaian could not afford to dine at NsuomNam – but how true is this? Because the other fraction vehemently denies this claim.
The debate could go on forever, but food blogger, Zubaida, did the honours of visiting and leaving a review.
She wrote, “The food was nice. The starter especially was 10/10. Service was good, plus the owner, the manager & the chef are so nice. The average spend for a drink, starter, main & dessert is ¢400pp.”
Videos showed a hush, serene, classy restaurant with high ceilings and gorgeous stylish cane chairs. A quick look at the menu offered price ranges from Gh45.00 to Ghc120.00 for starters. The mains are placed just a little above this range unless you want their seafood, which is the restaurant’s speciality, starting from Ghc180.00 to Ghc600.00.
Legal Practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has outlined some of the measures the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, needs to take should President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and his vice Mahamudu Bawumia resign.
According to him, one of the major steps he needs to take is to cushion the Ghanaian economy.
He said the speaker must ensure that taxes, prices of fuel, and basic commodities come down as soon as he assumes office.
“We are saying that when the Speaker of parliament assumes office as president after the resignation of Akufo-Addo and Bawumia, he must take steps to cushion the Ghanaian economy. Times are hard, fuel has gone, everybody is suffering. So, once we are all suffering when the Speaker takes over office, he must roll out plans to reduce some of the taxes, take and find other innovative means to make sure prices of basic commodities and petrol come down.”
The legal practitioner added, “The Speaker must also make sure the cedi is strengthened because as we are all aware the cedi is the worse currency in the world. Once we have gathered here and we are expressed our disgust at the obscene thievery, conflict of interest it means that Akufo-Addo, Bawumia and Akufo-Addo must go.”
Martin Kpebu made the comments at the ‘Kume Preko Reloaded’ demonstration which was held yesterday, November 5, 2022. The protest started from the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and ended at Black Stars Square in Accra.
Some Ghanaians showed up in their numbers to demonstrate in demand for better living conditions and also called for the resignation of Akufo-Addo, Bawumia and Ken Ofori-Atta.
The organizers noted that this is to send a “strong message” to the government to act in order to relieve Ghanaians of the challenges they currently face.
They also called for the resignation of the leadership of the country.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has assured Ghanaians that the Akufo-Addo administration will tackle the economic challenges facing them.
He told Ghanaians that the challenges are also being felt in most countries around the world, not only Ghana
In a remark at the Hogbestosto Festival at Anlo in the Volta Region on Saturday November 5, he said “we all know we are facing global economic crisis which Togbe Sri III referred to.
“This is a crisis that is being felt all over the world and the cost of living accelerated across the globe.
“If you look at the cost of living as measured by the rate of inflation, between 2019 and now, the rate of inflation has increased by five-fold in Ghana, it has increased by sixteen-fold in Togo, it has increased by eleven-fold in Senegal, it has increased by seven-fold in Cote D’Ivoire and eight-fold in the United Kingdom.
“The increase in the cost of living has caused hardships not only in Ghana but many countries.
“In fact, the BBC noted about two weeks ago that so far, this year, in 93 countries we have had public protests against the increased cost of living. It is important to know however that amidst all of this turmoil we should put things in perspectives.”
He added “The government of Nana Akufo-Addo has over the last six years taken many steps to reposition and transform the economy.
“So whiles we have hardships today, which we are working very hard to alleviate, and In sha’Allah we will deal with it, let us not forget what we have been able to do in the last six years.
“Let me recall that our government in the last six years has created more jobs than any other government in the Fourth Republic, let me recall that we have constructed more roads than any other government in the Fourth Republic, Let me recall that we have built more interchanges than any other government in the Fourth Republic, we have built more airports than any other government in the Fourth Republic, more railways than any other government , we have built more classrooms than any other government in the Fourth Republic.”
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumaia has indicated that the Akufo-Addo administration has over the past six years in office built more schools, roads, airports, interchanges than any other government in the Fourth Republic.
He has appealed to Ghanaians to recollect these achievements of the government in the midst of the economic turmoil they are saddled with currently.
Dr Bawumia indicated that the hardships are being felt globally, not only in Ghana.
In a remark at the Hogbestosto Festival at Anlo in the Volta Region on Saturday November 5, he said “we all know we are facing global economic crisis which Togbe Sri III referred to. This is a crisis that is being felt all over the world and the cost of living accelerated across the globe.
“If you look at the cost of living as measured by the rate of inflation, between 2019 and now, the rate of inflation has increased by five-fold in Ghana, it has increased by sixteen-fold in Togo, it has increased by eleven-fold in Senegal, it has increased by seven-fold in Cote D’Ivoire and eight-fold in the United Kingdom.
“The increase in the cost of living has caused hardships not only in Ghana but many countries. In fact, the BBC noted about two weeks ago that so far, this year, in 93 countries we have had public protests against the increased cost of living. It is important to know however that amidst all of this turmoil we should put things in perspectives.
He added “The government of Nana Akufo-Addo has over the last six years taken many steps to reposition and transform the economy . So whiles we have hardships today which we are working very hard to alleviate, and Insah Allah, we will deal with it, let us not forget what we have been able to do in the last six years.
“Let me recall that our government in the last six years has created more jobs than any other government in the Fourth Republic, let me recall that we have constructed more roads than any other government in the Fourth Republic, Let me recall that we have built more interchanges than any other government in the Fourth Republic, we have built more airports than any other government in the Fourth Republic, more railways than any other government , we have built more classrooms than any other government in the Fourth Republic.”
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said, in the last six years, the Akufo-Addo administration has created more jobs than any other government in the Fourth Republic.
It is not only job creation but also, the government has built mores schools, interchanges, airport than any other government in the Fourth Republic, he said.
In a remark at the Hogbestosto Festival at Anlo in the Volta Region on Saturday November 5, he said “we all know we are facing global economic crisis which Togbe Sri III referred to.
“This is a crisis that is being felt all over the world and the cost of living accelerated across the globe.
“If you look at the cost of living as measured by the rate of inflation, between 2019 and now, the rate of inflation has increased by five-fold in Ghana, it has increased by sixteen-fold in Togo, it has increased by eleven-fold in Senegal, it has increased by seven-fold in Cote D’Ivoire and eight-fold in the United Kingdom.
“The increase in the cost of living has caused hardships not only in Ghana but many countries.
“In fact, the BBC noted about two weeks ago that so far, this year, in 93 countries we have had public protests against the increased cost of living. It is important to know however that amidst all of this turmoil we should put things in perspectives.”
He added “The government of Nana Akufo-Addo has over the last six years taken many steps to reposition and transform the economy.
“So whiles we have hardships today, which we are working very hard to alleviate, and In sha’Allah we will deal with it, let us not forget what we have been able to do in the last six years.
“Let me recall that our government in the last six years has created more jobs than any other government in the Fourth Republic, let me recall that we have constructed more roads than any other government in the Fourth Republic, Let me recall that we have built more interchanges than any other government in the Fourth Republic, we have built more airports than any other government in the Fourth Republic, more railways than any other government , we have built more classrooms than any other government in the Fourth Republic.”
The Member of Parliament for Cape Coast South, Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, believes the government’s talk of haircuts on investments as part of debt restructuring was premature.
“You have not started the negotiations, then you pre-empt yourself in the negotiations by making a statement that there is not going to be a haircut. You have shot yourself in the foot,” he said on The Big Issue on Citi TV.
After the president’s assurances of no haircuts with respect to money invested in bonds during a speech last week, the government clarified that the restructuring was yet to be finalised.
The President said the statement was in response to rumours and speculation.
The restructuring talks are ongoing as part of Ghana’s efforts to secure an IMF deal for $3 billion.
In the wake of the speech, Mr. Rickets-Hagan said this was further evidence that the Akufo-Addo administration does not understand the government it is running.
He felt there was no need for the government to be paying attention to speculation at this point.
Mr. Rickets-Hagan added that the speculation was only a consequence of the poor management of the economy.
“They are behind the economy, they are running it. You shouldn’t be worried too much at this stage about speculation.”
“Speculation is going to happen when there is uncertainty. Speculation happens when people don’t have confidence in your economy; when your policies are no longer credible,” the MP said.
The convener of political pressure group, #FixTheCountrymovement, Oliver Mawuse Barker-Vormawor has added his voice to calls for the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to step down.
According to him, the president has failed in his mandate, hence the call for the first gentleman of the land to do the honourable thing by bowing out.
Mr. Barker-Vormawor made the call in an interview with citinewsroom.com on Saturday when he joined the “Ku me preko” demonstration in Accra.
The social activist who is also one of the organisers of the protest accused President Akufo-Addo of not living up to expectations.
“Democratic culture is built on accountability, and demand of citizens for their lot. It is written into the fabric of democracy that, if the leadership, those who have sought the mandate of the people fail to deliver that mandate, people have the right to take back that mandate from them.”
We say sovereignty belongs to us as the people. So from time to time, we must demand it be returned to the people. This is what this demonstration is all about.”
The willingness to stand up against brutality, against a regime that is continuously being oppressive, this is what we are here to do, this is what the people have come here to speak against,” he fumed.
The protestors who were clad in red and black attires holding placards with inscriptions such as: Adinkra Symbol of failure, Boo the President, Sika mpɛ mismanagement, Protect Journalists, impeach the President, the battle over the Lord sef, among others.
Some of the protestors holding placards
A number of police personnel with horses, and armoured vehicles were spotted at the demonstration grounds.
Ghanaians are faced with incessant increases in fuel prices, general economic hardship, soaring inflation, depreciating currency among others.
Government is currently seeking support from the International Monetary Fund to help salvage the ailing economy.
The international rating agency, Fitch may further downgrade Ghana’s creditworthiness status to RD to CC.
According to a Bloomberg report, Fitch sees a higher than 50% chance of Ghana’s debt default.
The report noted that the existing CC rating “means that default is probable, with a higher chance than 50%.”
The Head of EMEA Sovereign Ratings, Jan Friederich noted that if talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) led to debt restructuring, the country risks a further downgrade.
“If a debt restructuring is part of the agreement with the IMF, then, in terms of default risk, that will supersede any benefit from the financing support that Ghana might get from the IMF,” Friederich is quoted by Bloomberg.
Also, “a restructuring would likely lead to the relevant rating being placed in restrictive default,” he said. That rating is assigned to an issuer that, in Fitch’s opinion, “has experienced an uncured payment default or distressed debt exchange” on a bond or loan but hasn’t entered into bankruptcy or some other form of administration.”
Meanwhile, Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that there will be no debt restructuring as talks with the fund progresses.
Here is the full report by Bloomberg
Ghana’s sovereign credit rating may be downgraded closer to default by Fitch Ratings should talks with the International Monetary Fund on a record new $3 billion funding package lead to debt restructuring.
If that happens, Fitch would likely lower the country’s long-term issuer default rating to RD from CC, Jan Friederich, head of EMEA Sovereign Ratings, said in a phone interview.
Ghana hopes to use fresh money from the IMF extended credit facility program under discussion to boost its finances and regain access to global capital markets. Investors have been concerned about the financial health of Africa’s second-biggest gold producer, whose public debt was 68% of gross domestic product at end-July, according to central bank data.
“If a debt restructuring is part of the agreement with the IMF then, in terms of default risk, that will supersede any benefit from the financing support that Ghana might get from the IMF,” Friederich said from Hong Kong on Oct. 27.
“A restructuring would likely lead to the relevant rating being placed in restrictive default,” he said. That rating is assigned to an issuer that, in Fitch’s opinion, “has experienced an uncured payment default or distressed debt exchange” on a bond or loan but hasn’t entered into bankruptcy or some other form of administration.
The existing CC rating “means that default is probable, with a higher chance than 50%,” Friederich said.
Default Risk
In September, Moody’s cut its rating on Ghana’s long-term foreign debt to Caa2 from Caa1, citing macroeconomic deterioration which was “heightening the government’s liquidity and debt sustainability difficulties and increasing the risk of default.”
Ghana began formal negotiations for the extended credit facility program with the IMF in September. The world’s second-largest cocoa producer sought help from the Washington-based lender after homegrown policies, including cutting 2022 discretionary expenditure by as much as 30%, failed to stop investors from dumping its Eurobonds. The currency depreciated at a faster pace and debt-service costs soared.
When Fitch downgraded its assessment in September for the third time this year, it said there was a “high likelihood” that the proposed IMF support program would require some form of debt treatment, due to climbing interest costs and structurally low revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product.
Fitch estimates that Ghana’s government faces interest payments this year equivalent to 44% of revenue, rising to slightly above 50% next year. That compares with a sub-Saharan African median of about 14%, according to the rating agency.
Local Debt
Bloomberg reported in September that Ghana was considering reorganizing part of its 190.3 billion cedis ($13.6 billion) of local debt, as part of the talks with IMF. A committee was formed last month to solicit views from bondholders for a debt management strategy.
“We would be looking at which part of the debt will be affected,” Friederich said. “There are still open questions about what decisions they are going to make about the inclusion of local currency or foreign currency debt; we assume for the time being that both will be incorporated.”
Ghana’s 2030 dollar bonds may be excluded from any restructuring because they were partially guaranteed by the World Bank, he said.
A Chairman hopeful of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), in the Greater Accra Region, Mr. Joseph Ade-Coker has boldly stated that he can match his opponent in the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) boot for boot to win massively in the next general elections in 2024.
He said the NDC needs a courageous person like him to lead the battle and amass votes for the party to be at the helm of affairs in the country.
Interacting with NDC delegates during his campaign tour, Mr. Ade Coker said, “I have demonstrated that l have the courage to fight the NPP, they should also watch the posture of the NPP, they have been telling us that they are going to break the eight-year jinx, …If that is the case, the NDC needs a very courageous, bold and articulate person to be able to lead them in the battle in the Greater Accra region, which always determines the winning votes of the NDC. They should vote for me, I have come to you with a message and with a plan.”
The incumbent Greater Accra regional Chairman of NDC said the calibre of regional executives the delegates will elect internally will determine the party’s chances in the 2024 general elections.
“The calibre of people you elect tomorrow will determine the success of the NDC going into the 2024 general elections. If you elect people who are not mature, competent, tried and tested, the results will be GIGO, Garbage in Garbage out,” he warned.
He further advised delegates to desist from being influenced by money and enticing goodies.
The NDC is expected to elect its regional executives on November 12-13, 2022, to steer the affairs of the party.
He made the claim on his Facebook page on Friday, November 4, 2022, and used the opportunity to take a dig at President Nana Akufo-Addo and his much-hyped Planting for Food and Jobs programme.
Mahama said the programme has been “grossly mismanaged,” hence has not been able to achieve its target.
Mr. Mahamabemoaned that the country is faced with 30% treasury bill rates, adding that local investors are suffering from huge risks.
According to him, the country is grappling with massive reverse capital flows as investors lose their money on a regular basis.
“Ghana is on record as having the highest food inflation in the World at 122%, notwithstanding the much outed but grossly mismanaged Planting for Food and Jobs programme. We are grappling with treasury bill rates of about 30% as local investors in our financial instruments suffer huge risks associated with lending to the government. We are also experiencing massive reverse capital flows as investors lose what is left of their confidence in our economy and pull out in droves,” he posted on Facebook.
But the food inflation figure Mahama alleged does not correspond with the official figures announced by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
Planting for Food and Jobs is a flagship agricultural Campaign of the Government, with five (5) implementation modules. The first module PFJ (Crops) aimed at promoting food security and immediate availability of selected food crops on the market and also providing jobs.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah says President Akufo-Addo is the most caring political leader in the history of Ghana.
According to him, doting measures by President Akufo-Addo to protect the citizenry from the deadly Covid-19 pandemic clearly show how his government cares about Ghanaians.
Addressing journalists during a press conference in Kumasi on Thursday, November 4, 2022, Hon Simon Osei Mensah explained that the government’s decision to give out free electricity and free water and pay workers who were not working, among others would go down in the history books as one of the most charitable presidents.
“Have you ever wondered why President Akufo-Addo has gained admiration from across the African continent and beyond? If you ask me, I will tell you it is due to how he handled the pandemic with utmost human face leading to one of the lowest mortality rates Covid-19 recorded in any country after the Covid-19 outbreak “.
Appreciation to the President
Hon Simon Osei Mensah eulogized President Akufo-Addo over his four-day tour of the Ashanti Region.
The tour, he believes, was a huge blessing to the good people of the Ashanti Region as it saw the commissioning and sod cutting of major landmark projects in the region.
Hon Simon Osei Mensah explained that President Akufo-Addo’s visit had dismissed claims that the NPP government has neglected the region in its developmental agenda.
He added that some projects inspected by the president, such as the Maternity Block at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, the second phase of the Kejetia Redevelopment project, Boankra Inland Port project, among others, are a clear testimony that the Ashanti Region has also benefited from the current NPP government.
Seth Terkper, former Finance Minister during the erstwhile Mahama government, has contended that the tax burden remains the major bane of businesses under the tenure of the Akufo-Addo-led government, ABC News can report.
According to the former Finance Minister, businesses in Ghana are paying more taxes currently compared to what they paid during the administration of former President John Mahama.
He avers that this phenomenon is in contrast with what was promised to Ghanaians in the build-up to the 2016 general elections.
Speaking in an interview monitored by ABC News, Seth Terkper condemned the government for the taxes it has levied on Ghanaians and businesses since they took over the governance of the country in 2017.
The argument by Seth Terkper, however, is arguable considering the fact that the Akufo-Addo government scrubbed almost 17 ‘nuisance’ taxes in its first budget as a government.
To buttress his point, Seth Terkper advanced that government has within the time in government increased the Energy sector levy and indirectly increased the Value Added Tax (VAT).
Despite the government’s intervention, though some policies that have been lauded as innovative, aimed at improving the business climate in the country, Seth Terkper is of the view that little results have been recorded.
He mentioned that the recent port reforms did not bring the expected impact as envisaged suggesting that the benchmark value that slashed import duties by up to 50 percent this year has not necessarily helped all traders but rather increased the cost of transaction for some.
When President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo‘s brother appeared before the Accra High Court where he is suing Class Media Group, the Executive Director of the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), Mensah Thompson, and others for defamation, Lawyer Victor Adawudu grilled him under cross-examination.
Lawyer Adawudu was representing the Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson.
Thompson is accused of falsely claiming on the Accra-based Class FM that Mr. Akufo-Addo travelled to Abuja for his personal business using the presidential jet.
Edward Akufo-Addo in his answers to some of the questions posed confirmed using the presidential jet ‘two or three times’ only in the presence of the president.
Bumpty, as he is known popularly, had earlier indicated in his suit that the claim by the accused was “utterly false and a product of the defendant’s imagination.” He demanded among other reliefs that the court orders Thompson to pay ¢10 million as damages.
The brother of the president, on October 31 opened his case and informed the court of his decision to rely on his six-page witness statement.
Here is a portion of the transcript of what transpired in court between Lawyer Victor Adawudu and Edward Akufo-Addo:
Question: Have you ever boarded the Presidential Jet?
Answer: Yes My Lord. 2 or 3 times with the President and once with the 1st Lady.
Question: Can you tell this court the destination when you used the Presidential Jet with the President?
Answer: I believe to Kumasi and with the 1st Lady, returning from Kumasi.
Question: Is it your case that the 2 consecutive flights that you had with the President was from Accra to Kumasi and back?
Answer: Yes, to the best of my recollection.
The President’s brother explained that he boarded the jet because the President asked him to accompany him.
Question: Is having the privilege of using the Presidential Jet with your brother, His Excellency, in what capacity did you board the jet?
Answer:He asked me to accompany him.
Question: In other words, you did not go with him as a public official. Not so?
Answer:That is so, I am not a public official.
Question: And the privilege extended to you by the President was because you are his family. Not so?
Answer: That is so. I am his brother.”
He was then questioned on how much he paid each time he boarded the Jet. Mr Akufo-Addo replied that he did not pay anything.
Answer: I didn’t pay anything. The President did not ask me to pay.
Question:: Putting it to you that the courtesies that you enjoyed without paying were borne by government machinery from public funds.
Answer: I am sure the flight was paid for from public funds, I do not think my joining the flight incurred any additional costs. My brother was going there in any event”, he answered.
Background:
The ASEPA Executive Director alleged on the media outlet that Edward Akufo-Addo had used the presidential jet for a private trip to Abuja.
The plaintiff subsequently dragged Thompson and Class Media to court for defamation demanding GH¢10 million as damages.
In his suit, he described the claims as “utterly false and a product of the defendant’s imagination.”
It is not the only time Thompson has made such allegations; he is on record to have claimed that relatives of the president used the jet for a shopping trip to the United Kingdom.
He was arrested for the publication of fake news after the military denied that the jet had been used for the said trip. He later apologized for the claim stating that his source had misled him.
Other reliefs being sought:
Aside from the GHc10 million cedis in damages, Edward is seeking other reliefs from the court, among others:
“An apology and retraction of the words complained of particularly in paragraph 9 of the Statement of Claim with the same prominence as the impugned publication”.
And a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, whether by themselves, their servants, agents or assigns, from repeating the same or other, similar words of and concerning the plaintiff.
Lastly, he is asking for costs inclusive of legal fees.
Results of the Global InfoAnalytics have shown that as much as 54% of Ghanaian respondents to a poll want President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to resign.
According to a report by citinewsroom.com, the respondents to the poll indicated their support for the call for the president to step aside, with 40 percent of respondents disagreeing that he should step down.
The poll also asked respondents whether they want the Economic Management Team (EMT), led by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to be replaced due to the current economic downturns in the country.
The report indicated that as much as 78% of the 1407 respondents supported that call, with 18% being against it.
The Global InfoAnalytics poll also found out from respondents who they believed would be a better manager of the current economic crisis in the country between John Dramani Mahama, Alan Kyerematen, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Kennedy Agyapong, and Kwabena Agyapong.
The respondents voted as such: 43%, 17%, 14%, 8%, and 1%, respectively.
The news report indicated that there, however, 19% of the respondents said they preferred someone else to manage the economy.
Respondents for the poll were selected randomly from across all 16 regions of the country.
All the interviews for the poll were conducted in the space of two days: October 31 and November 1, 2022.
Edward Akufo-Addo, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo‘s brother has acknowledged using the presidential jet “two or three times” only together with the president.
Edward was testifying in an Accra High Court in a defamation case against Class Media Group, the Executive Director of the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), Mensah Thompson, and others.
Under cross-examination by the ASEPA boss‘ lawyer, Victor Adawudu, Edward confirmed, among other things, that he had only used the jet for internal travel with the president.
He explained that the trip was free of charge, that the president had invited him to go with him each time they boarded the plane, and that he saw nothing wrong with using it since his brother was going in the same direction nonetheless.
On October 31, Edward filed his case, alerting the court that he planned to rely on a six-page witness statement.
Background:
The ASEPA Executive Director alleged on the media outlet that Edward Akufo-Addo had used the presidential jet for a private trip to Abuja.
The plaintiff subsequently dragged Thompson and Class Media to court for defamation demanding GH¢10 million as damages.
In his suit, he described the claims as “utterly false and a product of the defendant’s imagination.”
It is not the only time Thompson has made such allegations; he is on record to have claimed that relatives of the president used the jet for a shopping trip to the United Kingdom.
He was arrested for the publication of fake news after the military denied that the jet had been used for the said trip. He later apologized for the claim stating that his source had misled him.
Other reliefs being sought:
Aside from the GHc10 million cedis in damages, Edward is seeking other reliefs from the court, among others:
“An apology and retraction of the words complained of particularly in paragraph 9 of the Statement of Claim with the same prominence as the impugned publication”.
And a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, whether by themselves, their servants, agents or assigns, from repeating the same or other, similar words of and concerning the plaintiff.
Lastly, he is asking for costs inclusive of legal fees.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority Caucus in Parliament has urged President Akufo-Addo to do something about the petroleum price hikes in order to cushion the ordinary Ghanaian from the global economic hardship.
Mr John Abdulai Jinapor, Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy, speaking at a press conference at Parliament House in Accra, appealed to the Government to help mitigate the economic hardship facing Ghanaians by taking measures to address the petroleum price hikes.
He said one would have thought that following the national address by the President, things would begin to calm down “It is sad, it is really, really sad to note that fuel price today is going through the roofs”.
“The ordinary Ghanaian is suffering, workers are suffering, teachers are suffering, MPs are suffering, evening the man on the street is suffering. You journalists, you are even suffering the more because you have to be moving up and down to cover stories. It is sad. It is very, very sad,” Mr Jinapor said.
He alleged “But even more importantly, I wish to place on record that this government is making so much money from the Ukraine-Russian war.”
He said in the 2022 budget, Government projected that it would receive a total amount of about six billion Ghana Cedis for the whole of 2022.
“That was what was projected. Today, as we speak, from the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) Report, in less than three months, even the price stabilisation and recovery levy which is supposed to subsidize fuel, government projected that in the first two quarters it would receive 269 million Ghana Cedis, as we speak from the Ministry of Finance’s own record, Government has received about 800 million Ghana Cedis,” he said.
He reiterated that the notion that Government was not making revenue was a fallacy; adding that “It is a complete falsehood. Government is making so much money from our petroleum resources.”
He called call on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Minister of Finance to do something about this price increments.
He urged the government to apply the alleged huge supernatural profit to cushion the ordinary Ghanaian.
Mr Jinapor, who is also the Member of Parliament for Yapei-Kusawgu, said “I feel very sad as a Member of Parliament, when on a daily basis, I receive calls from my members in the constituency, who cannot even afford one square meal a day”.
“People cannot even send their kids to school because of the exorbitant fuel prices, which is having cascading effect on food prices and the general cost of living. We hold the view that Government can do something about the fuel price increment.” Mr Jinapor said.
He suggested that the Tema Oil Refinery as a matter of urgency with immediate effect, should process Ghana’s domestic crude (oil), that could give Ghanaians about 45 thousand barrels of processed crude every day.
Scores of Ghanaians have rubbished President Akufo-Addo’s address to the nation on the state of the economy, which took place last Sunday.
Describing the address as a publicity stunt, some Ghanaians have touted that the President failed to address the locus of the challenges burdening the economy.
Prior to Akufo-Addo’s speech on Sunday, October 30, 2022, citizens envisaged that the President would highlight key measures to address some specific challenges they believe are the causes of the country’s economic crisis.
Among other things, some Ghanaians wanted the president to scrap taxes on petroleum products, downsize his government, halt the construction of the national cathedral, and sack his Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
However, to their dismay, the President focused on other challenges that he believes are the main factors crippling the economy.
President Akufo-Addoalso listed five measures his government would be implementing to turn around the adverse impact.
He mentioned that the government will improve the revenue collection effort from the current tax-revenue to GDP ratio of 13% to somewhere between 18-20%.
He also indicated that the government will reduce Ghana’s total public debt-to-GDP ratio to some 55% in present value terms by 2028.
The President added that his administration will, among other things, review the reforms in the energy sector, capping of statutory funds, implementation of the exemptions Act, a new property rate regime, a 30% cut in the salaries of political office holders and encourage the habit of eating what you grow policy.
Taking to his Facebook page, the Member of Parliament of North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwawho expressed his disappointment stated that Akufo-Addo should have apologised for the economic difficulties he has “imposed” on Ghanaians in his address.
Mr Ablakwa said “just imagine how President Akufo-Addo would have been celebrated by Ghanaians tonight if he said the following: I am sorry for the economic difficulties I have imposed on you; I have with immediate effect fired Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen; I am reducing the size of my government by 40%; I am slashing taxes on petroleum products.”
Commenting on the 30% salary cut by Akufo-Addo’s, former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, said the measure is insufficient in helping the government in its debt sustainability.
He noted that “30% fall in staff wages to help fiscal consolidation? Total Expd: Budget (c135.6b), Rev. Budget (c133.8b), hence reduction is c1.8b (only 0.0133%). Note, total wages & allowances rise, not decrease: Budget (ghc35.8b) vrs Rev. Budget (c37.9b) = c2.1b or 0.059%. Waiting for 2023B.”
Taking his part, Ransford Gyampo, a lecturer at the University of Ghana, asserted that the President’s address was inadequate and failed to address some fundamental issues.
According to him, the president failed to pinpoint how his government intends to achieve the objective of restoring confidence in the economy and hope in the people.
Arguing his point out, he said, “the ratio of our debt to GDP was around 56% in 2016. It is now expected to hit 104% according to the World Bank by the close of 2022. We must focus on addressing this rather than the manoeuvrings to keep power. There’s no potent campaign message than fixing our current challenges.”
One of the daughters of the president Gyankroma Akufo-Addo has denied allegations she was awarded a $25 million contract by the state to beautify some interchanges in the capital, Accra.
The claim was first made by controversial media practitioner Kevin Taylor on October 26 on his Loud Silence medium but has since been republished on other media platforms.
Kevin Taylor’s publication alleged that while the huge contract was awarded to Gyankroma, who is also CEO of the Creative Arts Agency, other daughters of President Akufo-Addo’s were also running capital intensive businesses.
But in a swift rebuttal Gyankroma explained in a press statement sighted by YEN.com. gh that no contract to beautify interchanges or underpasses has either been conceived, offered, or accepted by her.
“Indeed, any tender or contract awarded for such a project would have been made public,” she said.
The press statement further explained how some of three key interchanges in the capital came to be painted:
The projects were solely conceived, managed, and financially undertaken by The Creative Arts Agency, through its own fundraising activities.
Site 1: Ako Adjei, was funded by the private sector.
Site 2: Tetteh Quarshie, was paid for by myself, Gyankroma Akufo-Addo.
Site 3: was completed through the generosity of the creatively minded Ben Asante, CEO of Ghana Gas, understanding its social community importance.
The paint used for each site, again, was provided by Coral Paints and its CEO, who understand the importance of pushing visibility of Ghanaian artists.
“The absurdity of $25 million, or any amount for that matter, being awarded to myself to undertake this project is a disgusting narrative. It is a complete fabrication being propagated by some shameless persons, and which, unfortunately, has been published by sections of the media,” she was worried.
She said the beautification of the interchanges was done for profit reasons and “there have been no lucrative contracts awarded for it.”
“All efforts to undermine my credibility through the publication of these falsehoods and baseless lies will not wash.
“I have instructed my lawyer to seek redress in the law courts against persons and media houses that published these falsehoods with the sole intention of destroying my reputation,” Gyankroma Akufo-Addo disclosed in the statement.
The Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance and Leasing Company Limited, Mr Kenneth Thompson, has dramatically begged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to take decisive actions and save the economy from total collapse.
Speaking on Face to Face on Citi TV, Mr Thompson went down on his knees and called on the President to put in place measures that will ensure that majority of Ghanaians are not plunged into poverty and further suffering.
“His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa, what I can see coming is not good, I can see poverty I can see job losses, I can see business closures, I can see prices of electricity going up, I can see it. I lived through the 70s and I saw it,” Mr Thompson said.
The 61-year-old businessman added, “I can’t do much about the problem now but you can and I am begging you, please take decisive actions because I believe that you are capable of doing something and let’s move this country forward.”
Prices of fuel, goods and services have rapidly soared in the last few months plunging several households into a living crisis.
In October, Ghana’s currency depreciated as much as 3.3%, before paring the loss to 11.2750/$ in the capital, Accra. That took its losses this year to more than 45%, the most among 148 currencies tracked by Bloomberg.
President Akufo-Addo on Sunday admitted to Ghana’s economic crisis, describing it as a ‘historic’ development. Addressing the nation on Sunday evening, the President conceded to the country’s ballooning debt stock, rising inflation, free fall of the local currency, and the depletion of macroeconomic variables.
According to him, the situation is due to many ‘malevolent forces’ which are currently working together. In his speech, he, however, reiterated the commitment of the government to dealing with the present economic decline.
“We are in a crisis, I do not exaggerate when I say so. I cannot find an example in history when so many malevolent forces have come together at the same time. But, as we have shown in other circumstances, we shall turn this crisis into an opportunity to resolve not just the short-term, urgent problems, but the long-term structural problems that have bedevilled our economy”, the President said.
Some religious leaders in the country have suggested to President Akufo-Addo to as a matter of urgency ban illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) in the country.
According to these religious leaders, the country’s water bodies and their accompanying reservoirs have all been depleted by the activities of illegal miners.
In a meeting with the President on November 1, 2022, at the Jubilee House, the religious leaders, who were alarmed by the operations of illegal miners, explained that banning all forms of mining will go a long way in restoring sanity in galamsey enclaves.
Speaking on behalf of the clergy, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, Rt. Rev. Professor Joseph Obiri Mante lamented that differentiating between small-scale mining and galamsey has become a herculean task.
“Now we cannot tell whether those who are doing legal mining have turned out to be illegal, we don’t know which one is galamsey and so on and so forth, we are just wondering if it will be possible to place a ban on all small scale mining. Just to make a statement, we know we get money (from galamsey) but at what cost,” he said during the meeting.
Nefarious activities by illegal miners in the country have become a topical issue, with a section of Ghanaians calling on the President to regulate their activities.
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, has said that the president Akufo-Addo cannot single-handedly solve the challenges facing the country.
It is for this reason he believes all Ghanaians must get on board, performing their individual respective roles to ensure that together, the nation’s problems are resolved.
Speaking on Peace FM in an interview, the information minister sought to put the speech of the President to the nation on Sunday, October 30 in perspective.
Although he assured that pragmatic measures including the 12 major ones outlined by the President in his speech are being taken to ensure a turnaround in the economy, he noted that it’ll take a joint effort on the part of the President, government, stakeholders and the entire Ghanaian populace to achieve this.
“The problems we have, not only one person can solve them. If everybody leaves everything to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to handle, it will not work.
‘If everybody leaves things to government alone to handle, we all need to come on board.
… Whatever we do, if people sell and add a 100% profit to it, it won’t change much. We can’t use police to chase these traders. So we have to find a way to work together to bring some of these things under control,” he said.
According to Oppong-Nkrumah, there are arrangements for meetings between the president and some local producers, to ensure that local production is boosted and exports are reduced.
“The president will engage with local producers within the next week or two to bridge the bottlenecks that exist that are their products from getting on to the market,” he added.
The minority caucus in parliament has said President Akufo-Addo failed to take responsibility for the economic mess during his national address to the state on Sunday, 30 October 2022.
Even though the president assured Ghanaians that there would be no haircuts on their investments, the minority caucus insists there would.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, 1 November 2022, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said: “We are giving you only 14 days from today, and you will hear from them publicly, efforts to restructure our unsustainable debt, and those efforts will necessarily include a sika mpɛ dede baba [mallam] for many persons who have investments and savings in some instruments.”
“Those of you who listen to [Kristalina] Georgieva of the IMF, you will recall a few months ago when the World Bank and the IMF, particularly led by its Managing Director, were again categorical that they didn’t see anything wrong with Government policy. We now state that there is everything wrong with Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government and his economic management team’s policy on borrowing. Borrowing is a policy. You decide to borrow and how much to borrow and where to direct the borrowing. So, if you now borrow to the level of debt distress, to the level of unsustainable debt, to the level that you are now talking about ratio of 105% of GDP as your debt level and then he, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the president of the Republic, added that he hopes that Ghana’s debt-to-GDP will improve to 55% by 2028, we ask the question, where will he be?” M Iddrisu added.
He noted: “As a minority group, we believe the president failed to accept responsibility that he is responsible for the sorry state of the Ghanaian economy, and he is responsible for the wrench economy which has consequences on livelihoods”.
“Poverty has exacerbated, cost of living has gone high, cost of doing business has gone high, many businesses are folding up, and some industries are now re-routing their investments into neighbouring Ivory Coast and other countries because Ghana is no longer the investment haven as it should be.”
Read the president’s full speech below:
ADDRESS TO THE NATION BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO, ON THE ECONOMY, ON SUNDAY, 30TH OCTOBER 2022.
Fellow Ghanaians, good evening.
Back in 2020, at the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, I started a regular conversation with you that came to be popularly known as Fellow Ghanaians.
It was a time of great fear of the unknown, and the entire world felt at risk. I came into your homes regularly to tell you what the experts were discovering about the virus, and what we should do.
Now that we have seen the worst of the COVID-19, I can tell you that there were moments during those times when I was distraught, there were moments when I was in despair about the apparent inadequacy of our health facilities, and there were moments when I wondered if the dire predictions made about dead bodies on our streets would truly happen.
But I knew that I owed it to all of us that, as your president, I had to hold my nerve, show leadership and take us out of the crisis. With your help and support, and the great mercies of the Almighty, we can say that we emerged from the ravages of the pandemic with one of the lowest mortality rates globally. In fact, Ghana’s handling of the pandemic won universal acclaim.
We could all see in real time the devastation that was being wreaked on economies during the pandemic, but I doubt that anyone imagined the extent of the damage. Our economy, here in Ghana, like many, many others around the globe, was thrown into turmoil.
When I said, at the height of the COVID pandemic, that we knew what to do to bring the economy back to life, but not how to bring people back to life, it was not said in jest. We had done it before, and we were on course to doing it again. Ghana’s economy grew by a remarkable 5.4% in 2021, signifying a strong recovery from the 0.5% growth recorded the previous year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, in the last quarter of 2021, our economy grew at seven percent (7%), only for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the first quarter of this year to aggravate the effects of COVID-19, and plunge the global economy into even greater turmoil from which it has not yet recovered.
The whole world has been taken aback by the speed with which inflation has eaten away people’s incomes. Economies, big and small, have experienced, over this year alone, the highest rise in cost of living over a generation; the highest rise in government borrowing in over fifty (50) years; the highest rise in inflation for forty (40) years; the steepest depreciation in their currencies to the US dollar over the last thirty (30) years; the fastest peak in interest rates for over twenty (20) years; and the greatest threat of unemployment in peace time; with over a hundred million people being pushed into extreme poverty.
Between the end of 2019 and now, inflation in Ghana has increased by five-fold, in Togo by sixteen-fold, by eleven-fold in Senegal, and by seven-fold in Cote d’Ivoire. In truth, however, the fact that there are petrol queues in France does not make it more tolerable that the trotro price from Kasoa to Circle has doubled in the past one year, nor does it make it any more tolerable that the price of cooking oil goes up every other week.
It is important to state that mentioning the increases in prices worldwide is not meant to belittle the scope of suffering here, but simply to help us put things into some perspective, and, hopefully, learn some useful lessons about how other people are coping.
Fellow Ghanaians, this is why I am back in your homes this evening to ask for your support, as we work together to get our economy back into good shape.
In April, after the Cabinet retreat of the first quarter, and recognising the deteriorating macro economy, my government announced a thirty percent (30%) cut in budgeted discretionary expenditures, and a thirty percent (30%) cut in salaries of the President, Vice President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MMDCEs and political office holders, amongst other measures.
And, since July, when the Government took the difficult decision to go to the IMF to seek support, I have been speaking publicly at different fora on the subject of the economic difficulties we face, especially during my recent tours, so far, of nine (9) regions, and interacting directly with you, the Ghanaian people. It is also true that many of you have felt the need for me to come back to the Fellow Ghanaians format that brings us all together.
For us, in Ghana, our reality is that our economy is in great difficulty. The budget drawn for the 2022 fiscal year has been thrown out of gear, disrupting our balance of payments and debt sustainability, and further exposing the structural weaknesses of our economy.
We are in a crisis, I do not exaggerate when I say so. I cannot find an example in history when so many malevolent forces have come together at the same time. But, as we have shown in other circumstances, we shall turn this crisis into an opportunity to resolve not just the short-term, urgent problems, but the long-term structural problems that have bedeviled our economy.
I urge us all to see the decision to go to the International Monetary Fund in this light. We have gone to the Fund to repair, in the short term, our public finances, and restore our balance of payments, whilst we continue to work on the medium to long-term structural changes that are at the heart of our goal of constructing a resilient, robust Ghanaian economy, and building a Ghana Beyond Aid.
I am able to report to you, my fellow Ghanaians, that the negotiations to secure a strong IMF Programme, which will support the implementation of our Post COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth and additional funding to support the 2023 Budget and development programme, are at advanced stages, and are going well.
We are determined to secure these arrangements quickly to bring back confidence and relief to Ghanaians. We are working towards reaching a deal with the IMF by the end of the year. This will give further credence to the measures the Government is taking to stabilise and grow the economy, as well as shore up our currency.
I know that the increasing cost of living is the number one concern for all of us. It is driven by fast-escalating fuel prices at the pumps, which is caused by high crude oil prices on the world market and our depreciated currency. I know that this is putting intolerable pressure on families and businesses. I know that people are being driven to make choices they should not have to make, and I know that it has led to the devaluation of capital of traders and painfully accumulated savings. Furthermore, Government is working to secure reliable and regular sources of affordable petroleum products for the Ghanaian market. It is expected that this arrangement, when successful, coupled with a stable currency will halt the escalation of fuel prices and bring relief to us all.
I hear from the market queens also that another factor fueling the high prices is the high margins that some traders are slapping on goods, for fear of future higher costs. I say to our traders, we are all in this together. Please let us be measured in the margins we seek. I have great respect and admiration for the ingenuity and hard work of our traders, especially those that take on the distribution of foodstuffs around the country, and I would hesitate to join in calling them names. I do make a heartfelt appeal that we all keep an eye out for the greater good, and not try to make the utmost profits out of the current difficulties.
In language that every market woman and, indeed, every trader in our country understands, let me say that the basic problem we face is that we are not making as much money as we need to spend, and what little money we do make is going to pay for the debts we have contracted to fund the development projects we must have. Not enough of us are paying our taxes, not enough of us are producing to generate the revenues that we need.
Nevertheless, my ambitions for Ghana remain high. All our children should be educated and trained with skills that will enable us be competitive in the world. We need to close rapidly the infrastructure gap, we need to build a world-class healthcare system, and we need to build confidence in ourselves to make ours the happy and prosperous place it deserves to be.
I believe we can and we will find the means to achieve these goals, even if the immediate measures we have to take are painful.
At the just-ended Cabinet Retreat at Peduase Lodge, my government agreed on the framework for the Post COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth and the IMF support for its implementation, as well as the work being done by the Ministry of Finance in preparation for the 2023 budget. At the Cabinet Retreat, we took some firm decisions that should put us on the path that will take our nation out of the current economic difficulties. Let me try and give you an outline of the main decisions without getting into the technical language that baffles many of us.
To restore and sustain debt sustainability, we plan to reduce our total public debt to GDP ratio to some fifty-five percent (55%) in present value terms by 2028, with the servicing of our external debt pegged at not more than eighteen percent (18%) of our annual revenue also by 2028.
We are committed to improving the revenue collection effort, from the current tax-revenue to GDP ratio of thirteen (13%) to between eighteen and twenty percent (18-20%), to be competitive with our peers in the West Africa Region. The GRA is rolling out an extensive set of measures to support this enhanced revenue mobilisation. All of us must do our patriotic duty, and support the GRA in this exercise.
We are aiming to restore and sustain macroeconomic stability within the next three (3) to six (6) years, with a focus on ensuring debt sustainability to promote durable and inclusive growth while protecting the poor.
We have decided to review the reforms in the energy sector, capping of statutory funds, implementation of the exemptions Act and a new property rate regime. We have decided also to continue with the policy of thirty percent (30%) cut in the salaries of political office holders including the President, Vice President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MMDCEs, and SOE appointees in 2023, just as we will continue with the thirty percent (30%) cut in discretionary expenditures of Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
My fellow Ghanaians, the success of our efforts at diversifying the structure of the Ghanaian economy from an import-based one to a value-added exporting one is what will, in the long term, help strengthen our economy. We are making some progress with the 1D1F but our current situation requires that we take some more stringent measures to discourage the importation of goods that we can and do produce here.
To this end, we will review the standards required for imports into the country, prioritise the imports, as well as review the management of our foreign exchange reserves, in relation to imports of products such as rice, poultry, vegetable oil, tooth picks, pasta, fruit juice, bottled water and ceramic tiles, and others which, with intensified government support and that of the banking sector, can be manufactured and produced in sufficient quantities in Ghana. Government will, in May 2023, that is six (6) months from now, review the situation. We must, as a matter of urgent national security, reduce our dependence on imported goods, and enhance our self-reliance, as demanded by our overarching goal of creating a Ghana Beyond Aid.
Much as we believe in free trade, we must work to ensure that the majority of goods in our shops and market places are those we produce and grow here in Ghana. That is why we have to support our farmers and domestic industries, including those created under the 1-District-1-Factory initiative, to help reduce our dependence on imports, and allow us the opportunity to export more and more of our products, and guarantee a stable currency that will present a high level of predictability for citizens and the business community. Exports, not imports, must be our mantra! Accra, after all, hosts the headquarters of the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Fellow Ghanaians, as the French would say, l’argent n’aime pas le bruit, to wit, money does not like noise, sika mpɛ dede. Where there is chaos, where there is noise, where there is unrest, you will not find money. If you talk down your money, it will go down. If you allow some unidentifiable person to talk down your money, it will go down.
The recent turbulence on the financial markets was caused by low inflows of foreign exchange, and was made worse in the last two to three weeks, in particular, by the activities of speculators and the Black Market. An anonymous two-minute audio message on a WhatsApp platform predicting a so-called haircut on Government bonds sent all of us into banks and forex bureaus to dump our cedis, and, before we knew it, the cedi had depreciated further. All of us can play a part in helping to strengthen the cedi by having confidence in the currency, and avoiding speculation. Let us keep our cedi as the good store of value it is. To those who make it a habit of publishing falsehoods, which result in panic in the system, I say to them that the relevant state agencies will act against such persons.
Indeed, some steps have been taken to restore order in the forex markets and we are already beginning to see some calm returning. We will not relent until order is completely restored. The following actions have been taken thus far:
Enhanced supervisory action by the Bank of Ghana in the forex bureau markets and the black market to flush out illegal operators, as well as ensuring that those permitted to operate legally abide by the market rules. Already some forex bureaus have had their licenses revoked, and this exercise will continue until complete order is restored in the sector;
Fresh inflows of dollars are providing liquidity to the foreign exchange market, and addressing the pipeline demand;
the Bank of Ghana has given its full commitment to the commercial banks to provide liquidity to ensure the wheels of the economy continue to run in a stabilized manner, till the IMF Programme kicks in and the financing assurances expected from other partners also come in;
Government is working with the Bank of Ghana and the oil producing and mining companies to introduce a new legal and regulatory framework to ensure that all foreign exchange earned from operations in Ghana are, initially, paid to banks domiciled in Ghana to help boost the domestic foreign exchange market; and the Bank of Ghana will enhance its gold purchase programme.
I am confident that these immediate measures designed to change the structure of our balance of payment flows, sanitise the foreign exchange market to ensure that the banks and forex bureaus operate along international best practices, together with strengthened supervision, will go a long way to sanitize our foreign exchange market, and make it more resilient against external vulnerabilities going forward.
Over the course of this week, I have held several fruitful engagements with the Trades Union Congress and Organised Labour, the Ghana Employers’ Association, the Association of Ghana Industries, the Ghana Association of Banks, the Private Enterprise Federation, the Association of Forex Bureau Operators, the Association of Market Queens and Women, all of whom represent important stakeholders of the Ghanaian economy. They expressed their concerns and proposed solutions on how best to solve our problems. I have been encouraged by the enthusiasm of these interest groups to help Government address these challenges, and I intend to continue these engagements with other groups.
I also want to assure all Ghanaians that no individual or institutional investor, including pension funds, in Government treasury bills or instruments will lose their money, as a result of our ongoing IMF negotiations. There will be no “haircuts”, so I urge all of you to ignore the false rumours, just as, in the banking sector clean-up, Government ensured that the 4.6 million depositors affected by the exercise did not lose their deposits.
Anuanom, menim sɛɛ asetenamu ayɛ din. Nanso, ma obiaa empa aba, monkͻso enya gyidie ɛwͻ mabam mu. Nhyehyɛ yɛ aa ɛtumi maa Free SHS ɛni 1-District-1-Factory ɛbaa mu nu; nhyehyɛ yɛ aa ɛboaa ma yetumi pam corona yariɛ no efri oman ni mu; saa ɛnso na maban ɛ toto niemayie saa mereyi ama ahotͻ aba oman nimu, efri sɛɛ mewͻ gydie sɛɛ ɛko no yɛ Awurade Nyankopͻn ni ko.
Anyɛmimɛi, mile akɛ nibii ewa, shi nyɛ ka shia gbeye. Nyɛ yaanͻ ni nyɛ naa hemͻ kɛ yeli akɛ gbɛjianͻto ni hani free SHS ba min, gbɛjia nͻto ni hani 1-District-1-Factory ba min, gbɛjianͻto ni hani wͻ nyɛ wͻ shwe Corona hela kɛshi wͻ man nɛ min; nakai nͻͻ ni mi amlalo ba to gbɛjianͻ koni hejͻlɛ aba maa min, ejaakɛ, miyɛ hemͻ kɛ yeli ak3, ta, Nyͻnmͻ ta lɛ ni.
My government has always been cognisant of the importance of implementing policies and social interventions to relieve Ghanaians of hardships. It is for this reason that over the first five (5) years in office government reduced electricity tariffs cumulatively by 10.9%, we provided free water and electricity as well as reduced tariffs for the entire population during a whole year of the COVID-19 pandemic; we increased the share of the District Assemblies Common Fund to persons with disabilities by 50%; we exempted Kayayei from market tolls; we expanded the LEAP by one hundred and fifty thousand (150,000) beneficiaries; we expanded School Feeding from 1.6 million children to 2.1 million children; we restored teacher and nursing training allowances; we absorbed the cost of BECE and WASSCE exam registrations for parents; no guarantor is now required to obtain student loans. The Ghanacard is sufficient; and we have implemented free TVET as well as free senior high school education.
It is obvious, fellow Ghanaians, that you have a government that cares. We are determined to restore stability to the economy, and provide relief. We are all in this together, and I am asking for your support to rescue Ghana from the throes of this economic crisis.
I have total confidence in our ability to work our way out of our current difficulties. We are not afraid of hard work. We will triumph, as we have triumphed many times before. Let us unite, and rally around our Republic, its institutions and its democratic values, and insist that, under God, we will emerge victorious from our current difficulties. For this too shall pass, as the Battle is the Lord’s.
I will be coming regularly to keep you updated about the measures your government is making to move our country forward, and tackle our economic challenges.
God bless us all and our homeland Ghana, and make her great and strong.
I thank you for your attention, and have a good evening.
Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has noted that the government erred in choosing to invest GH25 billion to collapse nine local banks rather than utilizing GH5 billion to save them.
In a recent interview with the legislative press corps, Mr. Bagbin highlighted that “it is the priority of every country to ensure they are in charge of the banking sector,” adding, “So, if we had Ghanaians with banks facing issues, it is incumbent on us to make them successful.”
On Sunday, October 30, 2022, he informed the media, “I think our colleagues in government erred in not seeing it that way.
He said: “They tried and ensured that Ghanaians making it in the sector lost out and instead of using about GH¢5 billion to help the banks to survive, we ended up losing GH¢25 billion, and we have still not been able to sanitise the system and there is still a lot of work to be done.”
Mr Amoabeng, whose bank was also collapsed in the first term of the Akufo-Addo government, told Nana Otu Darko on CTV’s morning show, Dwabre Mu, on Tuesday, 4 October 2022: “I was pained by the collapse of Heritage Bank because it was young.”
“The Bank of Ghana had issued a licence to Heritage Bank and Heritage Bank had not operated for long and, so, unlike UT Bank, it had no bad loans or anything and it was a wholly-owned Ghanaian company that we had to nurture to grow,” he explained.
“Secondly, the owners of Heritage Bank found it fit to appoint a solid board,” he noted, adding: “I mean, the chairman was [Prof] Kwesi Botchwey. When it comes to finance in this country, he is the safest hands you can get; he’s seen it all.”
“As chairman, the board members run the bank, not the owner, so, I don’t know Seidu Agongo – as I told you, I haven’t met him before – but I know Kwesi Botchwey and I know his track record. So, if you have a bank that hasn’t got any baggage, it’s fresh and it’s got a board headed by Kwesi Botchwey, then it means its closure was a worse decision than UT Bank’s,” he further noted.
“As for UT Bank, we owed and they could have bailed [us out] but decided not to bail; that’s an option. That is why I mentioned that Heritage Bank, for example, was collapsed out of sheer wickedness,” he added.
Mr Amoabeng observed that the “unfortunate thing is, the Bank of Ghana is supposed to be independent but I don’t think they were independent with their decision on Heritage Bank because, if they were independent, why do you issue a licence and withdraw it?”
“When you were issuing the licence, didn’t you know the owners and the board?” he asked.
“It means they were told to withdraw the licence,” he deducted.
“And it’s not a fair way but it’s another dangerous path that Ghana has taken,” he regretted, noting: “Every institution has been politicised including even the army.”
“And that is why I am saying that for Heritage Bank, the institution that is supposed to be independent of the government [BoG], even though in principle, issues a licence and then withdraws that licence when the company hasn’t even done anything wrong,” Mr Amoabeng added.
Mr Amoabeng made similar comments a couple of years ago, saying he found it “extremely odd” for the Bank of Ghana to have collapsed Heritage Bank Limited, which had no bad loans on its books and was being run by the “right people” within the industry.
In his view, the revocation of the licence of the Ghanaian-owned bank, whose founder, Mr Seidu Agongo, has always argued was above board, as far as its books were concerned, was not only politically motivated but also “extremely unfair and unfortunate.”
Asked directly by TV3’s Paa Kwesi Asare in an interview on Business Focus: ‘Do you think, as many think, that some of the decision to close down certain banks was politically motivated?’ Mr Amoabeng answered: “A few of them; specifically Heritage Bank.”
“I don’t understand the issue because the Chairman of the Board is Dr Kwesi Botchwey. I have a lot of respect for him when it comes to finance in this country and managing Boards and he will not, in my estimation, ever accept to be Chairman of a bank that is not right and dealing in all sorts of things. I can say that for him,” Mr Amoabeng, whose bank was also among the nine Ghanaian banks that were collapsed in the central bank’s financial clean-up exercise during President Nana Akufo-Addo’s first term of office, noted.
“So,” Mr Amoabeng noted, “I find it extremely odd that a bank – and it had not started doing business for it to have bad loans and all those things – and for you to say that the owner didn’t have what it takes [doesn’t meet the fit-and-proper criterion] or however they put it, I mean the owner doesn’t run the bank, he’s a Ghanaian, he’s got the money, he’s appointed the right people to run the bank for him, so, what is the excuse?”
“I find that extremely, extremely unfair,” Mr Amoabeng asserted, adding: “Maybe I don’t have all the facts, but from where I stand, I find it really unfortunate.”
The Bank of Ghana revoked Heritage Bank’s licence on Friday, 4 January 2019, on the basis that Mr Agongo, the majority shareholder, among other things, used proceeds realised from alleged fraudulent contracts he executed for the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), for which he has been facing prosecution together with former COCOBOD CEO Stephen Opuni, for the past four years.
Announcing the withdrawal of the licence, the Governor of the central bank, Dr Ernest Addison, told journalists – when asked if he did not deem the action as premature, since the COCOBOD case was still in court – that: “The issue of Heritage Bank, I wanted to get into the law with you, I don’t know if I should, but we don’t need the court’s decision to take the decisions that we have taken. We have to be sure of the sources of capital to license a bank; if we have any doubt, if we feel that it’s suspicious, just on the basis of that, we find that that is not acceptable as capital. We don’t need the court to decide for us whether anybody is ‘fit and proper’. Just being involved in a case that involves a criminal procedure makes you not fit and proper”.
However, Mr Agongo responded with a press statement in which he said that the “not fit and proper” tag stamped on him by the central bank was “capricious, arrogant, malicious and in bad faith.”
According to Mr Agongo, “In purportedly making the determination, the central bank obviously had little regard for the time-honoured principle that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction,” adding that: “The fact that I have a case pending before the High Court is a matter of public knowledge but my guilt or innocence is yet to be determined by the Honourable Court.”
“The determination that I am not a fit and proper person to be a significant shareholder of HBL because the central bank suspects the funds are derived from illicit or suspicious contracts with Cocobod is not only calculated to pre-judge the outcome of the criminal proceedings but also violative of the principle of presumption of innocence to which every individual is entitled. Since when has suspicion become a substitute for credible evidence?” Mr Agongo asked.
Also, the erstwhile Prof Botchwey Board issued a statement on the matter in which it said: “Heritage Bank was by the Bank of Ghana’s own admission, a solvent bank. It never received liquidity support from the Bank of Ghana. Its corporate governance record had never been impugned by the Bank of Ghana. We believe we have been done a grave injustice and a terrible precedent set that does not bode well for the future.”
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, MP, Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam, has insisted that Ghana’s debt restructuring will include the country experiencing some “haircuts” in order to curb the current economic crisis.
His view is contrary to that of the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who has stated categorically in his address to the nation on Sunday, October 30, that there will be no loss of funds of persons and institutions that have invested in various public schemes.
The president noted that steps would be taken to protect the investment of citizens as the government pushes for a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“I also want to assure all Ghanaians that no individual or institutional investor, including pension funds, in government treasury bills or instruments will lose their money, as a result of our ongoing IMF negotiations. There will be no ‘haircuts’ so I urge all of you to ignore the false rumours, just as, in the banking sector cleanup, government ensured that the 4.6 million depositors affected by the exercise did not lose their deposits,” President Akufo-Addo said.
But speaking on Accra-based Joy FM, the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, indicated that there would definitely be a ‘haircut’ as Ghana awaits a bailout from the IMF.
“I don’t know the basis the President made that statement and if you run the maths, it doesn’t add up and I will be surprised that Ghana will get an IMF programme without a haircut.
“I can say on authority that there would be some form of a haircut. Clearly, someone is not briefing the President properly or probably the writing did not come out well. ‘The President goofed’, he shouldn’t have said it in a categorical manner because what it has done is that, it has sent additional uncertainties to the market clearly indicating that someone is not on top of his job.
“I do not know how our debt will be sustainable by the year 2028 brings to over 100 per cent…clearly indicating that we are to [remove] 50 per cent of debt without a debt restructuring, it is impossible,” Dr. Ato Forson explained.
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, has indicated the president’s posture during his address on Sunday, October 30, was that of a man who was very angry.
According to him, Akufo-Addo clearly indicated that he was not ready to solve the economic challenges that the country is currently facing.
Dr. Ato Forson noted in an interview on Joy News which was monitored by GhanaWeb that the president did a poor job of asking Ghanaians to rally behind him during these difficult times.
The Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam MP is of the view that the address of the president was long overdue.
“Unfortunately, the President waited too long to address the nation, and even when he decided to address the nation, his posturing alone wasn’t good enough. Watching the President, I saw someone who was angry, but I did not see someone who was ready to solve a problem. The body language is everything so I was more interested in his body language and I saw an angry man.
“Your people are in crisis, their livelihood is at stake. People are struggling to have three square meals a day; they’re looking up to you as the President. You don’t come threatening them because some of them are rumour mongering.
“You come obviously by talking to them in a way that they can buy your message. I think whoever wrote that speech if it’s himself, did a very poor job, if it’s another person, whoever did that job must go because actually, the people of Ghana were waiting for that master stroke but it did not come out as such,” Dr. Ato Forson stated while commenting on the address.
To him, the president’s address should have announced some immediate actions being taken to curb the fiscal issues, including some alleviation plans to help support the most vulnerable in society.
The MP noted such a statement of hope would have earned the support of Ghanaians instead of their ire and ridicule.
“Let me tell you something…if the President had come and had announced to the people of Ghana to say ‘yes, because of the crisis A, B, C and D, I’m relieving 40 of my ministers or 30 of my ministers’ it’s a big signal. It tells the people of Ghana that this man means business.
“It calms the nerves of everyone. Quantify it and say that I’m making savings of ABCD and I’m going to put these savings into, say LEAP to support the elderly. The people of Ghana want to see things like this,” Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson observed.
A member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) communications team, Edudzi Tameklo, has said the president missed an opportunity to address the plight of Ghanaians during his update on Ghana’s economy on October 30.
According to him, Akufo-Addo has failed as a leader as he has continuously blamed COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine as the cause of Ghana’s economic woes.
Speaking in an interview on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abi show, Edudzi Tameklo said, “Akufo-Addo missed an opportunity. Akufo-Addo had a glorious opportunity to bring Ghanaians together to solve the current economic crisis, unfortunately, he missed that opportunity so we are back to square one. Leadership is not an easy task so I won’t downplay it, but as a leader, the last person it rests with is Akufo-Addo. But how long can our president continue with blame game, how long will our president continue to blame COVID-19, Ukraine-Russia?. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on October 30, addressed the nation on some measures taken to curb the current economic crisis and cedi depreciation.
During his address, he said the country was making headway after COVID-19 until the Russia-Ukraine war emerged to disrupt the progress achieved.
He said, “we had done it before, and we were on course to do it again. Ghana’s economy grew by a remarkable 5.4% in 2021, signifying a strong recovery from the 0.5% growth recorded the previous year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, in the last quarter of 2021, our economy grew at seven percent (7%), only for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the first quarter of this year to aggravate the effects of COVID-19, and plunge the global economy into even greater turmoil from which it has not yet recovered.”
It was based on this Edudzi Tameklo quizzed why the president keeps referring to the things he has already mentioned and attributing them as reason the country is plunged into economic crisis instead of taking pragmatic steps to solve the issues.
A Presidential Staffer, Dennis Miracles Aboagye has said it is not Akufo-Addo’s job to apologise to Ghanaians for the current economic crisis the country is facing.
According to him, the duty of the president is to take Ghanaians out of the economic crisis the country is facing rather than apologise.
His comment comes on the back of calls by some Ghanaians on social media who have raised concerns over Akufo-Addo’s failure to apologise to Ghanaians for the current economic crisis including IMF bailout after he vehemently spoke against it.
After his address on the economy on October 30, some social media users including ace broadcaster, Nana Aba Anamoah, raised questions after the address on Twitter with the caption “No apology. No acceptance of responsibility. Nothing, absolutely nothing!”
Speaking on the Big Issue on TV3, the host quizzed why the president did not apologise to Ghanaians after Ghana went to IMF, Miracles Aboagye responded “apology for what?”
He continued “I need to clarify this, when as speak I speak as a Ghanaian, when I say the people and you also say the people whose words are you taking? Is it not all of us. The president’s job is not to come to us and come and be crying and apologising to us. The president job is to find a way out of the situation for us”.
Veteran broadcaster, Kwasi Kyei Darkwah, popularly known as KKD, has called for the sacking of the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
According to KKD, there is overwhelming evidence that points to the fact that there have been a lot of thieveries under his tenure.
For this reason, the broadcaster has called for the axe to fall on the head of the country’s chief financial officer.
Speaking in an interview on the JoyNews channel on Monday, October 31, 2022, and monitored by GhanaWeb, KKD explained that just like some 80 Members of Parliament calling for the minister to be sacked, it is the right decision.
He explained that things have gotten so bad that even MPs who will usually tread cautiously in their dealings with the president no longer care how hard they step on his foot.
“I saw someone who had used the brand of KFC, I don’t know why but about 22 people sent it to me… but if you think of it carefully, those MPs who stood up to speak have acted with courage; courage they got from their constituents. Because don’t forget this; because of the way our government is set up, nearly every MP whose government is in power, is angling for a ministerial position so they try as much as possible not to offend the president but I think they’ve gotten to a point where they think ‘even if this president gives me an appointment, I don’t want it’,” he said.
KKD added that it is time for Ken Ofori-Atta to be sacked as the Minister of Finance.
Likening him to an uncle who takes advantage of a very critical situation for his selfish interests, the veteran broadcaster asked that he is sacked.
He also explained that the actions and performance of the finance minister have brought disgrace to his clan, a clear indication of his greed.
“Ken must go! Ken must go because there has been too much thievery under him; thievery which we simply want to call, ‘Oh, it’s unethical’ but I’m telling if you live in a home where two children have sickle cell and one has (sic) and you have an uncle in the home that says things have gotten so bad, we need to go borrow money to perform a surgery for these children.
“And that uncle then goes to see somebody from whom he can borrow money; all he needs is a $100 million, and the person from whom he’s borrowing money, will also ensure that he makes $9.8 million, Ghanaians, will you trust that uncle? That uncle is Ken Ofori-Atta.
“You have embarrassed us, you have disgraced our fathers. Your father came to live a good life but you have disgraced us; you have disgraced the Akyem people and other tribes who have married into our clan because they include the Akyem, the Akuapem and the Nzema. You have disgraced us; you are greedy,” he said.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that the government’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has neared a concluding stage.
In his first address to the nation on October 30, amidst the troubling economic turmoil the country is currently facing, the president expressed confidence in the economic recovery programme.
He mentioned that “I am able to report to you, my fellow Ghanaians, that the negotiations to secure a strong IMF Programme, which will support the implementation of our Post COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth and additional funding to support the 2023 Budget and development programme, are at advanced stages, and are going well”.
This comes in contradiction to allegations that the government is struggling to secure a deal with the IMF.
It was said that the economic management team had provided the Fund with inaccurate figures, hence the delay from the IMF.
The President refuted such claims, adding that “We are determined to secure these arrangements quickly to bring back confidence and relief to Ghanaians”.
Stating some benefits of the IMF engagement, he mentioned that the cedi would see an appreciation .
“We are working towards reaching a deal with the IMF by the end of the year.This will give further credence to the measures Government is taking to stabilize and grow the economy, as well as shore up our currency.”
The local currency has been struggling to perform against major world trading currencies.
President Akufo-Addo is formally addressing the Ghanaian citizenry on the true state of the economy, which is reported to be in tatters.
He is expected to further elaborate the current challenges, causative agents and what is being done to resolve the challenges.
Ghanaians have been hit with increased prices in fuel products and transport fares as the cedi finds its feet among world trading currencies.
Due to the many issues, some Ghanaians have called for the sacking of Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, who is mandated to oversee to the smooth running of the economy. President Akufo-Addo is however yet to give into the demands.
It is expected that he will provide further justification as to why Mr Ofori-Atta remains at post.
President Akufo-Addowill address Ghanaians on the current state of the economy tonight at 8PM.
This comes after scores of Ghanaians called on the president and his economic management team to update the country on the way forward in restoring the dwindling economy.
According to a pressure group, OccupyGhana, the country’s economic outlook is nothing to write home about.
Thus, an update from the presidency on the state of the economy and the general affairs of the country could calm some nerves.
In a press statement, the group said, “no one expects the President to physically halt the fall of the cedi or conjure inflation away. However, it is imperative in such times that Ghanaians get the reassurance that their elected leader is doing all he can and that he cares. The cedi is ‘burning’. The Ghanaian economy is in tatters. It is a disaster. Yet we do not see commanding leadership in this matter.”
The country’s local currency is being battered by other foreign currencies while the annual inflation as of September 2022 has increased to 37.2%. A dollar is currently trading at about GH14.
Also, fuel prices have escalated, and transport fares have been revised three times just this year.
This increase in fuel prices and transport fares has translated into an increase in the prices of food goods and services.
Some Ghanaians and lawmakers have urged President Akufo-Addoto dismiss Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta because of his poor performance in the midst of this economic crisis.
The President is expected to further address the calls for the dismissal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta as well as the country’s engagement with the International Monetary Fund, on Sunday.
Tamale Central Member of Parliament (MP), Murtala Mohammed, has revealed his plans of commencing processes to impeach the President, Nana Akufo-Addo.
About 80 New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs this week demanded the sacking of Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, over the current economic hardships.
They threatened to boycott government business in parliament should the president fail to fulfill their demands.
The group, however, accepted President Akufo-Addo’s request asking them to allow the Finance Minister some time to finish negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
But speaking on Citi TV’s political analysis show, The Big Issue, Murtala Mohammed says President Akufo-Addo must also go, adding that, he has already taken steps to ensure that the President is removed.
“If we think that it is justified to call for the removal of the Finance Minister, let us not be hypocrites. It is equally justified to call for the removal of the President. I am assuring that, I have started talking to some of my friends to ensure that we initiate a motion to ensure that the President is impeached. I have started [the process].”
The majority caucus in Parliament called for the dismissal of Mr. Ofori-Atta, and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.
Their colleagues on the Minority side have also filed a motion of censure against the Finance Minister.
The pressure on the Finance Minister has come amid an economic crisis that has seen inflation reach 37.2 percent and the cedi tagged as the worst-performing currency in 2022.
Ghana’s forex challenges have seen the Cedi trading at over GH¢14 to a dollar.
Petrol prices have also crossed the GH¢15 per litre mark and are expected to fuel further inflation.
In response to previous calls for the removal of the Finance Minister, President Akufo-Addo said he would continue to back Mr. Ofori-Atta.
“Until the Minister goes, the President must go. Every single action of this Minister is an action that is taken and approved by the President. The Minister did not take any action that is approved and sanctioned by the President. Every action because every Minister works with the vision of the appointing authority and in this case, the appointing authority is the President”, Murtala Mohammed.
Former Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko has criticized President Akufo-Addo for suggesting that there’s no one else in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to take over from Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Over 80 Members of Parliament of the NPP threatened to boycott government business if the President doesn’t sack Ken Ofori Atta and Charles Adu Boahen, Minister of State at the Finance Ministry.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, the MPs stressed “if our request is not responded to positively, we will not be present for the budget hearing, neither will we participate in the debate”.
According to Subin MP, Eugene Boakye Antwi, the Finance Minister is “experimenting with this country and we’ve had enough”.
President Akufo-Addo following the MPs’ protest, held an emergency meeting with them and pleaded that Ofori Atta be allowed to conclude talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and also present the 2023 Budget Statement of government in November.
In a statement signed by Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the NPP MPs have agreed that Ofori Atta will stay “until the conclusion of the round of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the presentation of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy in November, 2022 and the subsequent passage of the Appropriation Bill after which time the demand will be acted upon.”
However, Boakye Agyarko disagrees with the President.
Speaking on Peace FM’s The Platform programme, he said “it doesn’t make sense” to ask the Finance Minister to stay for now.
“I don’t see how one person…so what are we going to do if God forbid we wake up tomorrow morning and he’s no more? Are we going to ask God to wait and allow him to finish the negotiations? It doesn’t make sense…it speaks ill of us”
One of Ghana’s most renowned playwrights, James Ebo Whyte, popularly known as, Uncle Ebo Whyte, says the country has been cursed with leaders who only care about amassing wealth.
According to him, over the years he has observed that the country has not been blessed with leaders who care about how the country would progress.
“We have been cursed with leaders who look at their pockets first. What am I going to get out of this?” he said.
He made this remark on the ShowBiz Roundtable organised by Joy Entertainment at the Labadi Beach Hotel on Saturday, October 29, 2022.
The thought-leadership forum, themed ‘Music Business and Tourism’, aims at delving deep into, and moving conversations from simply identifying some of the industry’s woes, to sharing ideas and insights that are critical to the growth and progress of the creative industry.
Due to his contention, Uncle Ebo opined that when recommendations from the meeting is handed over to the leaders, “it won’t mean anything to them and that is sad.”
The motivational speaker went on to say that due to the attitude of the country’s leaders, “he is suspicious of anyone who spends more to get a job for which you will be paid less than what is put in.”
“To get to Parliament, for instance, you would spend so much that if all you were coming in it for salary and ex-gratia, it would come nowhere near what you invested in it and yet people are prepared to die for it. Meaning that we are not coming because of what you think we are coming, we have seen something that maybe we cannot tell you about, but it is there and we are coming to get,” he said.
Mr Ebo Whyte expressed regret that the creative sector has been abandoned by the government to its fate.
He hoped that a day will come when a government will focus on the creative industry as its legacy.
Former Deputy Finance Minister, Mona Quartey, has alleged that officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have discovered some inaccuracies in the macro-economic figures presented by government’s economic management team.
According to her, this revelation raises credibility issues which can potentially affect the outcome of Ghana’s ongoing engagements with the IMF.
Contributing to discussions on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, the former NDC appointee, expressed her displeasure about the conduct of the economic management team.
“There has to be a change of the economic management team. This team is no longer credible. This is a team that has lied, not only to the people of Ghana outside your party, but they’ve also lied to you [Akufo-Addo]. And the IMF has found them out. The numbers they gave; the macro-economic numbers they gave were not correct”, she said.
Noting her reservations, the finance expert wondered why the President has refused to sack the members of the economic management team, whom she stressed, have failed in the discharge of their responsibilities.
She added that the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has no business being at post, after supervising the present economic decline.
The comments by Mona Quartey come at a time when scores of Ghanaians are making passionate appeals for the Finance Minister to be sacked.
According to his critics, Mr Ofori-Atta has failed woefully and therefore has no business being at the helm of affairs of leading Ghana’s engagements with the IMF.
Earlier this week, this posture was articulated by some 80 MPS from the ruling government who petitioned the President for Ken Ofori-Atta to be sacked.
Addressing a pres conference on Tuesday, the MPs threatened that they will not support any government business, if the President fails to listen to their demands.
But in a quick turn of events, the MPs, after meeting the President backed down on their calls, aftter the President implored them to allow the Finance Minister to finish the ongoing negotiations with the IMF and presentation of the 2023 Budget Statement.
Touching on this development, Mona Quartey said she is disappointed by the posture of the said MPs.
Meanwhile, Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has admitted a motion of censure filed by Minority Members of Parliament to remove embattled Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
On Tuesday, the Minority filed a motion to that effect following the Majority MP’s demands to have the Finance Minister and the Minister of State in charge of Finance at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Adu Boahen dismissed.
According to them, Mr. Ofori-Atta is incompetent and is to blame for the current economic woes of Ghanaians.
Speaking to JoyNews, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said they are hopeful by 10th November, they can conclude processes to remove the Finance Minister.
Law Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Clara Beeri Kasser-Tee has criticised President Akufo-Addo for failing to sack Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, Clara Beeri Kasser-Tee wondered what President Akufo-Addo’s economic goals are, considering the current economic crisis and his refusal to sack Ken Ofori-Atta.
According to her, the reason why President Akufo-Addo has not yielded to calls for him to dismiss the Finance Minister could be that he is not alarmed by the current state of the economy.
“President should have considered whether considering the current economic situation, that is what he expected, because I would expect that he appointed the Finance Minister to help him achieve a certain goal for the economy.
“In the economic circumstances that we are, is that the goal for which he brought the Finance Minister on board?” she asked.
She said if the President has not dismissed Ken Ofori-Atta, the justification could be that Akufo-Addo is not perturbed about the current economic crisis.
“If we are going to be quite objective, if the Finance Minister is not doing what the President wants him to do, the President has the power to fire him, if the President has not done that it is a reasonable conclusion to draw that this is what the President wants him to do,” the Law Lecturer stated.
On Tuesday, October 25, 80 out of the 137 Majority MPs demanded the sacking of the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu-Boahen citing their poor management of the country’s fiscal space.
The MPs at a press conference held at Parliament blamed the duo for the delay in the ongoing International Monetary Fund programme negotiations that is expected to give the country a bailout.
“We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the President changes the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry without further delay to restore hope to the financial sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of the economy.”
The group, led by the MP for Asante Akim North, Andy Appiah-Kubi, said the failure of government to heed to their demands will result in their boycotting of all government business.
“Meanwhile, we want to serve notice, and notice is hereby served that until such persons as aforementioned are made to resign or removed from office, we members of the Majority Caucus here in Parliament will not participate in any business of government by or for the President by any other minister.
“We hope that those of us [at] the backbench and members of the Majority Caucus will abide by this prayer. We are saying that if our request is not responded to positively, we will not be present for the budget hearing, neither will we participate in the debate.”
Their move was applauded by the general public and other groups who have in the past called for similar action to be taken.
This drew the attention of the President and summoned the NPP MPs for a meeting on the substantive matter.
After the meeting with President Akufo-Addo, the MPs in a U-turn later acceded to the President’s appeal to allow Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu-Boahen stay in office till after the IMF deal is sorted out and the 2023 Budget is presented to Parliament.
In a statement released by the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, he said, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry will stay “until the conclusion of the round of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the presentation of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy in November, 2022 and the subsequent passage of the Appropriation Bill after which time the demand will be acted upon.”
In an effort to aid the nation out of its current economic difficulties, former president John Dramani Mahama advises the government to reduce spending by lowering the number of appointees, disband or realign state entities with identical functions, and halt non-essential projects.
He questioned the need for the Free SHS Secretariat given that the Ghana Education Service could carry out the policy just as well.
Speaking at a gathering titled “Building the Nation We Want,” the former president urged the government to take more action to fight corruption.
Mr. Mahama said the incompetence of the Finance Minister and the entire Akufo-Addo government has caused the depreciation of the Cedi and other economic challenges in the country.
The former President said it is not acceptable for Mr. Ofori-Atta to continue to be in office supervising the 2023 budget and the completion of Ghana’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.
Mr. Mahama was optimistic that the economy will get better and urged Ghanaians to unite and consume locally produced foods as a way of supporting the economy.
The Ministry of Finance has described as false reports that President Akufo-Addo is refusing the resignation of Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.
In a statement issued on social networking site, Twitter on Friday, October 28, 2022, the Ministry said “rumors about the Honourable Minister of State tendering in his resignation are untrue” and should be treated with all the contempt it deserves.
The rumors have been fueled by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. In a twitter post, Mr. Ablakwa alleged that the President has refused to accept the resignation of the Minister of State.
Rumours about the Honourable Minister of State tendering in his resignation are untrue, and should be disregarded. Stories of this nature are unhelpful at this time, and the general public is advised to disregard them completely.https://t.co/N5q5VavQ5L
This, the Ministry says the allegations are “untrue” and “unhelpful”; urging the general public to “disregard them completely”.
Mr. Adu Boahen had come under pressure last Tuesday with some members of the New Patriotic Party in Parliament demanding his removal together with Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta for the current economic crises.
The Majority MPs insisted that the removal of both Ministers will restore confidence in the economy.
However, after meeting the President, the Majority MPs have softened their stance accepting the President’s plea to have the Ministers stay in office to seal Ghana’s bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
