Former President John Mahama is perplexed as to why the current administration, which asserts that it “has the guys,” is focusing the IMF negotiations and the 2023 budget presentation on “one individual.”
His remarks follow a meeting between President Akufo-Addo and the majority caucus, which was called in response to their demand that Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta be fired.
You may recall that nearly 80 NPP MPs asked for the dismissal of Charles Adu Boahen, the Finance Minister, and the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, for their failure to address the current economic situation.
But in a meeting on Tuesday, the President asked that Ofori Atta be allowed to conclude talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and also present the 2023 Budget Statement of government in November.
Speaking to this at a lecture on the economy on Thursday, Mr Mahama described this as “untenable”.
“Budget preparation and IMF negotiations are the result of teamwork, not the work of one individual. I fail to see how the absence of the Minister will affect the preparation of the budget or the negotiations with the Fund”.
He continued: “There surely must be persons with the requisite experience to carry on this work. After all, what happened to the “We have the men” mantra?”