Ken Ofori-Atta
FINANCE MINISTER Ken Ofori-Atta has asked Ghanaians and the business community to trust him to address the country’s economic challenges.
Speaking at a meeting with the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in Accra last Thursday, the Finance Minister begged the citizens to repose confidence in him to deal with the challenges, while giving assurance to fix the economy.
“Let me assure you all that your best bet is still Ghana. We can do it; we should do it,” he noted and continued, “Just to assure you that you have a Finance Minister who has gone through all the pains and the aches, nobody can really come and say you don’t understand what we are doing.”
“The question is: what resources do we have? How are we going to deploy them in the nation that we have? How do you stand firm in very difficult circumstances by being very confident that the nation is purposed for greatness and you are blessed to have the opportunity to lead where we are going?” he asked rhetorically.
Mr. Ofori-Atta further called on the investor community to support him and his team to stabilise the economy in the face of mounting criticism.
According to him, he has been battling with persistent pains in trying to turn around the battered economy.
He, however, said Ghana remained the best place for doing business, and that the country was poised for greatness, despite the current difficulties, asserting he was blessed for the opportunity to lead Ghana to the promised land.
The global economic downturn has had a negative impact on Ghana, plunging the country’s economy into difficulties, with rising inflation and high cost of living featuring prominently.
Calls For Ken’s Head
Since the economy went into crisis, there have been calls from various quarters, including Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Majority Caucus, for Mr. Ofori-Atta to be sacked.
The NPP MPs even threatened to boycott the 2023 Budget reading in Parliament, should President Akufo-Addo fail to relieve him of his post.
“We members of the Majority Caucus of Parliament have had occasions to defend allegations of conflict of interest, lack of confidence, trust against leadership of our Finance Ministry,” the MPs, led by Andy Appiah-Kubi, who is the NPP MP for Asante-Akim North, stated.
The NDC Minority Caucus, on the other hand, have also tabled a motion to censure the Finance Minister, accusing him of “poor performance” with the economy, and “despicable conflict of interest.”
They alleged Mr. Ofori-Atta has been benefiting from Ghana’s economic woes, with his companies receiving commissions and taking “unethical contractual advantage”, particularly from Ghana’s debt overhang.
By Ernest Kofi Adu