Some Members of Parliament who are part of the Majority Caucus are calling for the dismissal of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.
The group made the announcement to the media in Parliament on Tuesday, October 25, 2022.
Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi, the Member of Parliament for the Asante-Akim North Constituency, who introduced himself as the spokesperson for the disgruntled Majority MPs group, said they decided to voice their position because several concerns sent to the government have failed to yield any positive results.
According to the group, sacking Ofori-Atta and Adu Boahen will help restore confidence in Ghana’s economy.
“The recent development within the economy is of major concern to our caucus and our constituents. We have made our grave concern known to our president through the parliamentary leadership and the leadership of the party without any positive response.”
“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 in order to restore hope to the financial sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of the economy,” he added.
Several Ghanaians, including opposition parties, have mounted pressure on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to remove Mr. Ofori-Atta from office in light of the country’s current economic predicament, which has compelled government to seek support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) on Monday demanded the head of the Finance Minister and Mr. Adu Boahen over their handling of the economic crisis.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, Arnold Boateng, the General Secretary of AFAG, said “clearly it looks like the Finance Ministry and the government has dropped the ball on the economy.”
“Reassign the Finance Minister and Adu-Boahen because they have been there for a long time and their activities have caused the mess we are in now.”
“His posture does not augur well. He has lost the trust of the nation. The name Ken Ofori-Atta has become synonymous with failure, synonymous with incompetence and any adjective you can call.”
I can’t turn my back on Ofori-Atta – Nana Addo
In response to the calls for Ofori-Atta’s head, President Akufo-Addo, during an interview on Kumasi Based OTEC FM last week, said he can’t turn his back on his Finance Minister.
“I came to office in 2017 when we were under an IMF programme. This same Ken Ofori-Atta was able to manage the economy for the first 3 to 4 years. We were then one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. We had an average growth rate of 7% a year.”
“For someone who has been able to do all these, how do I turn my back on him? For me, his performance has been excellent. That is why I have great difficulty in understanding what is going on.”
Summary of Ghana’s economic woes
Ghana is currently going through a tough time with its economy, as there seems to be no end in sight for its challenges while the debt stock has hit unsustainable levels.
At the moment, Ghana’s inflation has skyrocketed to 37.2% in September 2022, the highest in the last 21 years.
The cedi has also lost value to major trading currencies, especially the dollar, in the last ten months and currently trading at almost GHc14 to a dollar.
Fuel prices have also crossed the GHc15 per litre mark, compelling transport operators to threaten to increase fares by 40%.
V.I.P Jeoun Transport Service has already increased its fares by 20% effective Monday, October 24, 2022 with further fare hikes expected in the coming weeks.
