Reform EMT to self-control it -Mahama to Akufo-Addo

Former President Mahama has called on President Akufo-Addo to reconstitute and take control of the Economic Management Team himself. According to Mahama, it will not be enough to replace Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, leaving the Vice President Dr. Bawumia.

Former President Mahama in his address on the state of the Ghanaian economy insists the Finance Minister’s position is currently untenable. Majority MPs had called for the dismissal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen. President Akufo-Addo however rejected calls from his own MPs to show Ofori-Atta the exit and demanded that he is given time to complete the IMF deal and 2023 Budget.

But, former President Mahama says there is no basis for the president’s appeal. Speaking at a lecture on the economy, the former Ghanaian leader Mahama said Ken Ofori Atta must be sacked to restore confidence in the Ghanaian economy.

“I advised Ken Ofori-Atta to stop creative accounting in the Ghana economy but he refused until he put the country in this economic mess”, Mahama said.

Akufo-Addo must seek multilateral supports and quickly convey a national dialogue.  Apart from that, Akufo-Addo must sack Ofori-Atta and Bawumia to bring confidence in the economy. Akufo-Addo must reshuffle cabinet to bring in fresh ideas.

John Mahama holds the opinion that there is a desperate attempt by Akufo-Addo’s Administration to shift blame
to Covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine war.

“We are in economic mess because the so called solid Economic Management Team has failed call to order Akufo-Addo’s cousin Ofori-Atta. Akufo-Addo refused to accept responsibility for economic problems. NDC is ready to share pragmatic steps and solutions. Backroom consultations between government and opposition should have taken place”.

According to Mahama, “Government has failed to announce a robust home-grown programme after reluctantly running for IMF negotiations. Debt accumulation is on the rise because Akufo-Addo had to borrow to pay debt. Sack Ofori-Atta, reconstitute economic management team and take charge yourself. There must be persons in the NPP to take over the economic management team, if not we have the men remains a mirage and a mere talk”.

For Mahama, “Ghana’s biggest problem is over GHC 400bn debt. Put moratorium on all non- consectionary borrowing, stop printing money to pay government debts. Legislation should be passed to prevent collateralization of statutory funds. Government should use windfall from oil to cushion financial sector and petroleum products”.

John Mahama has taken a swipe at President Akufo-Addo’s government, accusing government’s machinery of lacking fiscal discipline.

“Government should cut down budget. Akufo-Addo’s 30% cut is not working. Akufo-Addo is irresponsible by keeping huge size of government. Merge some ministries and cut size of government by 65%. There are too many agencies created overnight that must be scrapped to ensure efficiency. Northern Deveopment Authorities were created merely for sloganeering and must be scrapped. Presidency budget had been increased from 700m to 3.1bn in 2022 must be reduced. Corruption has defeated Akufo-Addo”, he said.

He noted that “Public funding of the national cathedral at this time must stop. Project cannot be a top priority at time. Project should be subjected to value for money auditing to allow Practitioners of the Christian faith to contribute to it. Suspend building of constituency offices”.

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John Mahama wants the Bank of Ghana to stop printing money to pay government deficits.

Mahama has asked the Ghana armed forces to remain loyal to the state in this time of economic difficulty.

He said corruption has defeated President Akufo-Addo.

Meanwhile, Senior UN Governance Advisor Prof. Baffour Agyeman-Duah has backed calls on President Akufo-addo to immediately dissolve his Economic Management Team. His reaction follows calls by Ex-President John Mahama to reconstitute President Akufo-Addo’s Economic Management Team after sacking Ken Ofori-Atta and Dr. Bawumia. He however believes successive governments have not been able to fight corruption.