Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a prominent member of the New Patriotic Party, has stated what may be characterized as his displeasure over Kwasi Kwarteng’s dismissal as the UK finance minister.
On Friday, October 14, British Prime Minister Liz Truss removed Kwasi Kwarteng, a Ghanaian-born British finance minister, from his position.
The decision was made as a result of the mini-consequences, budget’s which led to market volatility and a revolt among UK Conservative MPs, according to the BBC, which confirmed the news.
Reacting to the news, Gabby Otchere-Darko took to his Twitter and wrote; ‘The politics of scapegoatism’ to suggest that Kwasi Kwarteng despite being in office for only six weeks suffered the ill consequences of being a political scapegoat.
Kwasi Kwarteng was recently appointed to serve as Chancellor of the Exchequer, United Kingdom where he served for six weeks.
His appointment came at a crucial time when the country is facing a high cost of living, and public sector layoffs, among others.
Kwasi Kwarteng after his appointment became the first black person to hold the position.
See Gabby Otchere-Darko’s tweet below:
The politics of scapegoatism.
— Gabby Otchere-Darko (@GabbyDarko) October 14, 2022
British Prime Minister to announce tax cuts:
Meanwhile, it is expected that Prime Minister, Truss will hold a news conference in due course, as speculation builds that the government could reverse more of the tax cuts announced in its mini-budget.
Earlier, a No 10 Downing source told the BBC that Truss thought the chancellor was “doing an excellent job”
The PM faces growing calls from within her party to rethink her economic plans, with one Tory MP telling the BBC: “It’s checkmate, we’re screwed”, the BBC further reported.
‘I am not going anywhere’ – Kwasi Kwarteng
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Background:
Kwasi Kwarteng, 47, took over as head of the British Treasury in September 2022, after new UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss, took over; with the responsibility of trying to pull the UK out of a serious cost-of-living crisis without plunging the public finances into the abyss.
He took over from Nadhim Zahawi, an Iraqi-born Kurd, who himself succeeded Rishi Sunak, of Indian origin, and Sajid Javid, with Pakistani roots, embodying a more inclusive face of the Conservative party.
His sack makes him the second shortest-serving UK chancellor on record.
The shortest serving chancellor, Iain Macleod, according to the BBC, died of a heart attack 30 days after taking the job in 1970.
Since 2019, the UK has had four chancellors, including Nadhim Zahawi who served the third shortest tenure with 63 days during a short-lived reshuffle under Boris Johnson, and Sajid Javid who served 204 days – the fourth shortest tenure on record.