Kwame Pianim, a prominent figure in the New Patriotic Party (NPP), suggested in 2023 that Ken Ofori-Atta was Ghana's worst finance minister and that Ofori-Atta's tenure had led Ghana to default on its debts. insisted.
Speaking on Okeh FM, Mr Pianim criticized Ofori-Atta for not heeding warnings about over-borrowing and blamed him for the current economic challenges.
On February 14, 2024, President Akufo-Addo finally removed Ken Ofori-Atta from his post as Minister of Finance. Ofori-Atta has been in the position since 2017, and despite earlier calls for his removal, the decision to remove him was made on February 14, 2024.
The following is an article published on GhanaWeb on February 17, 2023.
New Patriotic Party (NPP) stalwart and politician Kwame Pianim has suggested that Ken Ofori-Atta is the worst finance minister in Ghana's history.
In an interview on OK FM monitored by Ghanaweb on Monday, January 16, 2023, Mr. Pianim said it was only under the leadership of Mr. Ofori-Atta as Minister of Finance that Ghana failed to pay its debts. .
He added that Ofori-Atta was fully responsible for the economic turmoil the country was in as he did not heed advice.
“In December of this year, we told the whole world that we would not be able to repay our debts. In the first few years of Nana Ofori-Atta’s life, we warned him about the interest rates on his debts; He said he knew what he was doing and wouldn't listen. We told him he was going to lead the country into a ditch and now we're in that I'm in a ditch.
“We are now trying to get this country out of the ditch and he is saying it is the work of God…This country has always been in the red with the budgets he (Ofori-Atta) has prepared. “He said he would use E-Levy to solve the country's challenges, but it was given to him and nothing happened,” he said on Twitter.
When asked if Ofori-Atta was the worst finance minister in Ghana's history, he replied: “Am I the one you're asking?”
“Our company has been declared bankrupt. Ghanaians are suffering. Pensioners are crying over their haircuts. For some of them, this is more than a death sentence and they are forced to take blood pressure medication. Some people say if you don’t take it, you will die,” he said.
He added that Ghana's economy is so broken that it imports cassava from Ivory Coast and vegetables such as onions and tomatoes from Burkina Faso.
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