Asking me to resign is akin to asking a father to abandon his children – Ofori-Atta
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has responded to calls for his resignation following government’s decision to seek economic bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to him, asking for his resignation is akin to asking a father to abandon his children.
The country is faced with high debt, low revenue, rising inflation, steep depreciation of the cedis against other major currencies and a general rise in the cost of living attributed to external factors such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government had indicated that it wasn’t considering a programme from the Bretton Wood institution after 16 bailouts from past governments.
However, after a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, 30 June 2022, President Akufo-Addo has given the green light for interactions to commence.
Scores of Ghanaians have asked for the Finance Minister’s resignation after the announcement.
Reacting to the call for his dismissal, Mr. Ofori- Atta said “It is almost like telling a father to resign from his children because he has changed his mind.
“There are times that decisions have to be made for the survival of the country and therefore, if such circumstances such as Covid or Ukraine war occur which are not typical, it does change the environment.”
Some critics of the government including Former President John Dramani Mahama had said Mr Ofori-Atta supervised disastrous collapse of the economy.
In a statement welcoming the decision by the Akufo-Addo administration to head to the IMF, Mr Mahama said on Saturday July 2 that “The Finance Minister who has supervised the disastrous collapse of the economy cannot and should not be part of the team of negotiators. He has lost credibility and the trust and confidence of stakeholders in our economy.
“President Akufo-Addo must take a bold decision to replace his finance minister immediately with a more assured and competent person who is willing and able to work tirelessly to turn our almost hopeless situation around.
‘In addition, given his obvious failures, the Vice President must be relieved of his responsibility as Chair of the Economic Management Team to enable the President to reconstitute the team. We must draw useful lessons from this episode and avoid cheap politicking with the economy; that can only yield the disastrous outcomes that have brought us here,” Mr Mahama said in a Facebook post on Saturday July 2.