Going to the IMF with Ken Ofori-Atta leading will yield no result – Isaac Adongo

Deputy Ranking Member on the Finance Committee of Parliament, Isaac Adongo says the decision by the government to engage the IMF for support led by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta smacks of hypocrisy of the highest order.

According to him, the move is meaningless and will not yield the expected result if led by the same people who spoke against going to IMF.

Speaking to Citi News on Friday afternoon, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolgatanga Central alleged that the Finance Minister is currently not in the good books of the IMF, insisting that he will fail to show commitment.

“The Programme led by Ken Ofori-Atta will be meaningless, it will be an exercise in futility. They will have no commitment to the very milestones that will be agreed. The IMF, the World Bank, and the multilateral institutions are quite clear about the status of Ken Ofori-Atta in any such arrangement. And so to ask him to even lead the process smacks of some level of hypocrisy and a government that is indecisive,” Isaac Adongo indicated.

In his view, the Finance Minister has failed and should have been fired by President Akufo-Addo a year ago together with his deputy, Charles Adu Boahen.

“The President should have followed this letter with a removal of Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen in order to give Ghana a chance to negotiate an acceptable Programme that is workable,” Bolgatanga Central MP Isaac Adongo argued.

This afternoon, a Ministry of Information press release has confirmed that the government of Ghana is returning to the IMF.

The release signed by Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah notes that President Akufo-Addo has tasked Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to lead the engagements with the fund.

“The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has authorized Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to commence formal engagements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), inviting the Fund to support an economic program put together by the Government of Ghana.

“This follows a telephone conversation between the President and the IMF Managing Director, Miss Kristalina Georgieva, conveying Ghana's decision to engage with the Fund,” parts of the Ministry of Information press release reads.