Former President John Dramani Mahama has joined the calls for the immediate firing of the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
He said the plea by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that the Finance Minister should finish the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before his sacking is not tenable.
Speaking at a forum dubbed “Building the Ghana We Want” in Accra on Thursday, Mr. Mahama said President Akufo-Addo must let Ofori-Atta go.
“I’ve noted the draft motion of censure by the Minority against the Minister of Finance and the recent rebellion of G95 group (95 Majority Members of Parliament) calling for the removal of the minister. I’ve also noted the statement of the Majority Leader of a so-called compromise reached that the minister will leave after he has completed the budget and the IMF negotiations.”
“I think this is untenable. Budget preparation and IMF negotiations are the results of teamwork. They are not the work of one individual. I fail to see how the absence of the minister will affect the preparation of the budget and the negotiation with the International Monetary Fund. There surely must be persons with the requisite experience in the NPP to carry on this work. After all, what happened to the mantra we have the men??”
Following Ghana’s current economic predicaments, John Mahama further asked President Akufo-Addo to take hold of the Economic Management Team to help boost confidence in the economy.
“The president must not only replace his Finance Minister; he must also reconstitute and take control of the Economic Management Team himself”.
John Mahama also called on the government to pull out from hosting the 2023 All African games.
If it is not too late, we can pull out of hosting the All-Africa Games as it would severely stretch our already precarious finances by hundreds of millions of cedis,” he said.
“In our current economic state, public funds must go into projects that are necessary and which meet the pressing needs of our people in the communities. Such projects must have tangible and measurable impact on job creation and national development.
“If it is not too late, we can pull out of hosting the All-Africa Games as it would severely stretch our already precarious finances by hundreds of millions of cedis.”
So far, preparations for the event have been slow, prompting concerns over whether the country is ready to host the Games.
Last year, the government also halted plans to construct a 50,000 capacity Olympic Stadium to host the Games due to time constraints.
Pulse
