The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, according to certified economist Bernard Oduro Takyi, is the only one who can assist Ghana in overcoming the current obstacle preventing it from receiving the $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to him, the only obstacle remaining before the government can convince the IMF board that Ghana’s debt is manageable and the $3 billion bailout should be approved is the Chinese government, which is now the only obstacle.
“The Chinese government is going to drag its feet and will not meet Ghana over the money we owe them. What they are likely to do is demand control of key assets of Ghana because we have failed to honour the agreement, we had with them.
“The only way out is for the government to fall on the Otumfuo. It took Otumfuo for Kufuor to get debt cancellation. The only way out is for the Otumfuo to lead the delegation anybody else forget it, it won’t wash.
“The Otumfuo’s seat goes beyond the country… in Africa, he is one of the most respected monarchs. He can speak to Buckingham Palace for the King of England to intervene for Ghana. If any other person leads Ghana’s delegation will not wash,” he said in Twi in an Onua TV interview, on Thursday.
Oduro Takyi, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who has defected to the National Democratic Congress (NDC), added that the last person to be leading the country to seek reprieve for its international debt is the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
He explained that international lenders to Ghana including China see Ofori-Atta as the cause of the problems in Ghana and they will not be willing to sit with him to discuss the country’s debt.
The government of Ghana started engaging external debtors with the view to getting debt cancellation, especially from the Paris club of creditors.
The first stop of a government delegation seeking debt restructuring was in China with Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta leading the team to Beijing.
China holds a third of Ghana’s external debts amounting to $1.7 billion out of a total of $5.7 billion.
Ken Ofori-Atta, according to a Joy News report, told Svenja Schulze, the German Development Minister that China has committed to a bilateral negotiation.
“The big elephant in the room is China as in how they will comport themselves in the comparability of treatment because China wants to do bilateral. We would be visiting China by the end of the week to really discuss how they can envelop as quickly as possible,” he said.
Svenja Schulze on her part assured of German support in helping Ghana to get fair treatment at the Paris club.