Ghana’s opposition on Thursday succeeded in moving a motion of censure against Ofori-Atta, hoping the force out the finance minister to “restore confidence” into the ailing Ghanaian economy.
“We disapprove of the performance of Ken Ofori-Atta, who has run the Ghanaian economy aground and he must take full responsibility for inflicting unprecedented hardship on the ordinary citizens.
“He is incompetent and not fit to continue as minister for finance,” Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said in Parliament as he moved the motion for censure.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has levelled six charges against the soft-spoken Ofori-Atta, including allegations of conflict of interest, unconstitutional withdrawals from the consolidated fund, illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament and fiscal recklessness leading to crash of the Ghanaian cedi.
#KenMustGo campaign
Ofori-Atta has been under pressure to resign culminating in a #KenMustGo social media campaign by Ghanaians. The West African nation’s currency is one of the worst performing in the world as investors express concerns about the sustainability of its debt.
Daniel Amartey, an economist with the Accra-based Policy Initiative for Economic Development (PIED), said this is crunch time for Ghana and it is about time President Nana Akufo-Addo introduced a new face at the finance ministry to restore some level of confidence.
“I sincerely believe the finance minister and his team have lost the trust and confidence the citizens reposed in them from the beginning. He has lost credibility and on a matter of principle it will serve the government good for the finance minister to resign,” Amartey tells The Africa Report.
“This will reassure the citizens that the government is ready to inject a new sense of urgency in steering the affairs of the economy. We’ve seen it happening in most of the advanced economies where people resign because things are not working.”
He is incompetent and not fit to continue as minister for finance.”
Traders and consumers protested last month over the rising cost of living and hikes in fuel prices. Annual inflation jumped to 40.4% in October.
Religious bodies including the Presby Church of Ghana are now holding prayers and fasting sessions for Ghana’s struggling economy hoping that “God will step in and put an end to these difficulties.”
Panic withdrawals
Ofori-Atta’s own investment bank Databank is struggling to pay funds as customers engage in panic withdrawals.
“Due to the current economic conditions, it will take longer than normal to receive your funds when you place a withdrawal request. We cannot give an exact time frame, but will update you regularly about the status of your request,” a notice at Databank reads in part.
Although Amartey is of the view that Ofori-Atta’s exit “may not immediately turn the fortunes of the country”, for him it will be the beginning of good things to come.
“People are resorting to panic withdrawals because they don’t have confidence in the finance minister and by extension the President. Once he resigns, you’ll see the excitement in the system and to me that alone is the genesis of the solution,” Amartey said.
President Nana Akufo-Addo is not in a rush to sack his cousin. In an emergency meeting with governing NPP lawmakers, who are also in support of the removal of Ofori-Atta, the president appealed to them to allow the finance minister to continue leading negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to secure a bailout of $3bn and also to prepare the 2023 budget.
Time is running out
However, Dr Adu Owusu Sarkodie, an economics lecturer at the University of Ghana says time is running out for the government as things continue to get worse.
“Foreign investors have lost confidence in our economy and we need to restore that confidence. We need to also calm the market to ensure some stability,” Sarkodie tells The Africa Report.
In a week’s time, Parliament will revisit the motion calling for a vote of censure against Ofori-Atta after the committee has submitted its final report.
People are resorting to panic withdrawals because they don’t have confidence in the finance minister and by extension the President.”
As the government bids time to reach a record-breaking agreement with the IMF, Sarkodie is highly optimistic that the bailout is the panacea to Ghana’s economic woes.
“As to whether or not the market will react to this call on the sack of the minister or not will depend on how the market sees him. If they see him as the problem then the market will react positively… the IMF programme … is our only saviour. We have to work towards receiving that programme to ensure stability in the economy,” Sarkodie tells The Africa Report.
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