The Citizen Coalition of Ghana has joined the majority of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament in calling on the government to terminate the appointment of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
The coalition’s #KenMustGo Campaign comes on the back after President Nana Addo made an appeal to the majority caucus of parliament demanding the dismissal of the Finance minister to hold on till government concludes negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to the President, terminating the appointment of the finance minister will disrupt the programme.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra dubbed ‘Nana Must Listen” Dr. Kojo Pumpuni Asante, Director of Policy Engagement and Advocacy at CDD-Ghana indicated that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout won’t make any significant changes in the country’s economy hence the need to sack Ken Ofori Atta and his deputies to restore some confidence in Ghana’s financial market.
He also added that the Coalition cautioned the government in its maiden presser that the approach of blaming the precipitous decline of the economy on the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war was extremely unhelpful and, in many ways, has influenced the government’s response to the crisis.
“The response was then to hang our entire short to medium solution to ongoing negotiations with the IMF. As the CEDI plunged into a free fall and basic food prices rose uncontrollably at the markets, the country and government waited with bated breath for drips of news to emerge from Washington, DC. Ultimately, none of these announcements changed the realities on the ground,” he said.
He added that since the launch of the Coalition in July, the economic situation has worsened significantly.
“The price of staples like kenkey has risen from GH₵2 per ball to 3, 4, and even GH₵5; a 5KG bag of rice has gone up from GH₵50 up to GH₵110 in some cases; 25 liters of oil has gone up from GH₵600 to GH₵1,400”.
“The general cost of water to drink (‘pure water’ sachet water), from 20 pesewas per sachet, with some going for three (3) for 50 pesewas to 40 and 50 pesewas per sachet,” he said.
Dr. Asante further stated that the coalition endorse the call by the majority of MPs for the dismissal of the Finance Minister and his Deputies, adding, we are using the press conference to communicate our strong desire for the President to immediately reshuffle the Minister of Finance and this deputy without further delay to restore hope into the financial sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of the economy.
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke