Economic Crisis: Don’t blame Ofori-Atta alone, blame EMT who took glory when the economy was good too – Arthur Kennedy
A stalwart of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has appealed to Ghanaians to be measured in blaming the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, for the economic downturn the country is suffering. Mr Arthur Kennedy is of the view that it is only fair to blame all the people in high office who took the glory when the economy was doing well. “Some of these people were all over touting their economic credentials, now that it has gone bad, they should also share in the blame,” he explained. “Ken Ofori-Atta is not in this alone all others must also share the blame,” he said.“We cannot stand here and say Ken Ofori-Atta alone contributed to the challenges we are facing today. “It is equally fair to blame the people who showered praises on themselves for better managing the economy and for that matter arresting the cedi,” he stressed. The one-time campaign manager for the sitting president in 2008 jumped to the defence of the embattled finance minister when he was speaking as a panellist on Accra-based Joy FM’s News File on Saturday, December 10, 2022. He strongly argued that the finance minister does not deserve to be singled out for blame. “He is not solely responsible for the economic woes the country finds itself in today,” he said, adding that there was an Economic Management Team (EMT) responsible for the fiscal and monetary management of the country.“By this, all the members of the team must equally be blamed too, now that things have gone bad. He is not the only person in the management team so all the others should be blamed,” he stressed. Also, he took issues with the finance minister for likening his censure motion to that of Jesus Christ. “This is so wrong because Jesus never did wrong but he (Ken Ofori-Atta) told Ghanaians the construction of the National Cathedral was solely a private initiative only for him to withdraw funds from the contingency account to fund the construction of the project,” Mr Arthur Kennedy reasoned. He was quick to add that the construction of a slave museum would have served a better purpose than a National Cathedral.Source: Classfmonline.com/cecil Mensah —Classfm—
Ghana’s failure to build National Cathedral will be a disgrace — Okyenhene
The Okyenhene Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin II has expressed worries over the construction work on the interdenominational National Cathedral at Ridge in Accra which has come to a halt. He stated that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will be disgraced if the cathedral is not built. Okyenhene made this known on Friday, December 9, 2022, when addressing the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral in Kyebi, and said the cathedral will benefit Ghanaians not to travel to Israel to pray. According to him, “He [Nana Addo] has to glorify the name of the Lord for how far He has brought him and build the cathedral to testify that he is grateful to God for making him President, there is no sweeter news as this. “With the cathedral, there’ll be no need to travel to Israel, just in Accra, the cathedral will answer all your questions about Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and everything.” “So I’m pleading with you all, let us not bring shame upon our country and the President, let us contribute to building the cathedral,” he added. Months after the President cut the sod for work to start on the National Cathedral, very little had taken place since March 2022 when activities were halted. Plans for the construction of the National Cathedral continue to generate lively debate, and although the government insisted that it will be funded by the private sector and serve as a multi-purpose national edifice but Ghanaians have raised concerns about its usefulness and cost. Earlier, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency, accused Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta of breaching laws by withdrawing funds from the Consolidated Fund for the construction of the national cathedral. He indicated that Ofori-Atta engaged in the act without the required parliamentary approval.The Finance Minister was accused of “unconstitutional withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund in blatant contravention of Article 78 of the 1992 Constitution, supposedly for the construction of the President’s Cathedral,” thus demanding his removal from office. But Ofori-Atta has insisted that he breached no law in releasing funds for the national cathedral project. Appearing before an eight-member ad-hoc committee tasked to probe a censure motion against him, he said “I say with both humility and confidence that I have not breached the Constitution in making payments to support the construction of the National Cathedral of Ghana.” He also denied claims by the proponents of the motion that he made an unconstitutional withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund to fund the project. In an earlier statement, Ofori-Atta announced that GH¢339m has been spent so far on the cathedral project. Also, the Finance Ministry, in a document submitted to the ad hoc committee that recently investigated Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta on seven allegations over which a censure motion has been filed against him, noted that a total amount of GH¢113,040,654.86 has been paid to Messers Sir David Adjaye and Associates, the consulting firm working on the cathedral. Per the document, the government of Ghana’s contribution to the cathedral project was GH¢25 million paid in March 2022. —Pulse—
Police declare 16 persons wanted for violent disturbances at NDC elections
Police have so far declared sixteen persons wanted in connection with the violent disturbances at the NDC’s National Youth and Women’s Congress held at Cape Coast in the Central Region on December 10, 2022.While proceedings were ongoing at the Congress two rival groups violently clashed throwing stones, blocks, sticks, clubs, chairs among others, causing injury to three persons and destruction to property. The intervention of the Police brought the situation under control for the processes to continue to the end without any further incident.After an initial review of Police-specific video footages of the event, 16 suspects have so far been identified as some of the people involved in the violence and have been declared wanted. A Ghc10,000.00 reward has been set aside for any member of the public who can provide credible information to the police that can lead to the arrest of any of the suspects. Police say investigation is ongoing to further identify and arrest other perpetrators involved in the violence to face justice. —Starrfm—
Debt-Ridden Ghana’s Cedi Posts World’s Biggest Gain Against US Dollar
Debt-Ridden Ghana’s Cedi Posts World’s Biggest Gain Against US Dollar Ghana’s currency took the title of the world’s best performer against the dollar this week amid optimism the debt-distressed country is moving closer to unlocking an International Monetary Fund bailout. The cedi has rallied 10% in the past five days, the biggest advance among about 150 currencies tracked by Bloomberg. That’s a turnaround for an exchange rate that had lost half of its value this year and occupied the bottom slot in the charts. The gains came even as the African nation put its local-currency sovereign bonds in what Fitch Ratings described as a “default-like process,” and the holders of its dollar bonds braced for capital losses. The restructuring is needed to put Ghana’s debt on a sustainable path and secure a $3 billion IMF loan.“The currency was the cheapest in Africa, more than 30% undervalued versus its 25-year history last week, so some rebound after the huge fall recently isn’t that surprising,” said Charles Robertson, the global chief economist at Renaissance Capital Ltd. in London. “Also we have the IMF in town, which should pave the way for dollar support.” Investors are returning to some of the riskiest corners of emerging markets amid the dollar’s biggest quarterly decline since 2010. They’re betting that a Federal Reserve pivot to a less-hawkish monetary stance will continue to weigh on the greenback in the coming months. The cedi advanced Friday to 12.9648 per dollar, the strongest level since October on a closing basis. It’s still down 52% this year.Optimism on the cedi “is a combination of a somewhat more hawkish central bank, some progress on the restructuring front and a bit of buying the news,” said Simon Quijano-Evans, the chief economist at Gemcorp Capital Management Ltd. in London. Other emerging currencies that outperformed this week include the Vietnamese dong, Chilean peso, Costa Rican colon and Chinese yuan. — With assistance by Yinka Ibukun —Bloomberg— For publication please kindly contact us on 0256336062 or Email apexnewsgh@gmail.com
Togbe Afede writes: Economic crisis, self-inflicted
About six weeks ago I was in New York, and for the first time in almost three decades, I struggled to sell the economic credentials of my country. When we were approaching the runway at Kotoka International Airport, at the end of my return journey, I looked outside from my window seat, and my joy about a safe return, as often, turned into sadness – the sharp contrast to what one sees when approaching the runway of the international airport of an average modern city was distressing. I asked myself, why? Any hope of accelerating our development is now dimmed by our current economic crisis, the result of a monumental failure of leadership. I saw it coming when after only three months in office, the government rushed to raise USD2.25billion from a single source. I thought the interest rate, 19.75%, was punitive, and the redemption premium was protective of the term (duration) of the bond. I saw tell-tale signs of recklessness and I advised a more critical look at proposals from the Ministry of Finance.Our economy is in a mess and the growing frustration and sense of helplessness among the youth is frightening. I am worried about the greed-inspired, divisive and acrimonious politics which is at the root of all this. What has become of all the love we shared as one people? How I wish we all are committed to building the Ghana that was the dream of our founding fathers. I know what suffering is like, so I’m worried for my “fellow Ghanaians”. That is why, once again, I want to share my thoughts on our development challenges. Much of what I have to say, I have said before and are common knowledge. But there are certain things that can never be overemphasized, and there is often the compelling need to repeat what may seem obvious. Our vulnerabilities The COVID-19 pandemic has been a great challenge, and so has been meningitis in northern Ghana, and Ebola in some parts of Africa. These and other tragedies have exposed the vulnerability of the black race and the imperative need for our leaders to think about what we can do to further the cause of development in Africa. Here in Ghana, we seem to have missed the opportunity to strengthen our peace and unity, which are vital for development.Our current economic challenges predate COVID and, of course, the ongoing war in Ukraine. We shall survive all of these, but we must remember always that survival is not the same as prosperity. The truth is that our people are suffering. Our resource endowmentsWe are lucky, just like many other African countries, to be endowed with so much, the most important being our human resource – young and growing population. Our country, and the rest of the continent, have more than our fair share of the world’s natural resources.About 30% of all known mineral resources are found in Africa; we have 20% of the world’s landmass and 60% of uncultivated arable land; and we have 17% of the population. Yet we account for only about 3% of global output, GDP, and a similar share of world trade. According to the International Energy Agency, Africa has 60% of the world’s best solar resources, but only 1% of solar generation capacity.Ghana, with its fertile land, gold, diamond, bauxite, manganese, oil and gas, etc., is much better endowed than the average African country. So, the potential for development is great. The dream of our founding fathers and the 1992 constitutionDevelopment that provides the necessities of food, shelter, water, health, education, electricity, roads, jobs and incomes, thus good living standards, and ultimately, happiness, is the minimum that Ghanaians desire, and indeed, deserve.Not only did the founding fathers of our nation recognise this, but they also believed that we could work for the desired development. That was what inspired the demand for independence and the proclamation that “the black man is capable of managing his own affairs”.They also believed that we need a free, just, and democratic society in order to develop to our full potential, hence the choice of the motto, Freedom and Justice, to inspire commitment to these most basic requirements of democracy.The framers of the 1992 Constitution underscored the need for development by providing in Article 36 (1), under The Directive Principles of State Policy, that “The State shall take all necessary action to ensure that the national economy is managed in such a manner as to maximize the rate of economic development and to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every person in Ghana and to provide adequate means of livelihood and suitable employment and public assistance to the needy”.The importance of individual initiative and the private sector are also recognised through the provision in Article 36 (2) (b) that “The State shall, in particular, take all necessary steps to establish a sound and healthy economy whose underlying principles shall include affording ample opportunity for individual initiative and creativity in economic activities and fostering an enabling environment for a pronounced role of the private sector in the economy”. Happiness is the essence of life, and it is important for unity, peace, stability and for continuing development. So, without guaranteeing the freedom of every individual to pursue happiness, no nation can develop to its full potential. Thus, peace, development, prosperity and happiness for all were in the minds of our founding fathers and the framers of the 1992 Constitution. The reality of the state of affairsThe truth is that we have failed, woefully, to achieve the ideals of the 1992 Constitution, and the vision of our founding fathers – a nation that is able to provide, under indigenous leadership, the basic necessities to all its people and ensure their happiness. We have pretended for too long.I consider poverty in Ghana a paradox because of our enormous resource endowments – we are hungry in the midst of plenty; thirsty, while standing in the middle of the stream; and beaten by the rain, while
MTN MoMo to become full business platform – CEO
The Chief Executive Officer of the Mobile Money for MTN, Mr. Shaibu Haruna, says the company is to transition its MoMo Services to a full business platform as part of broader ambition for 2025 strategy. He said solid services would be introduced in the coming years to advance customer experience as an evolving mobile financial tool. The CEO was speaking at an Awards and Dinner night to appreciate and reward 250 merchants and agents, who have held the brand on high from operational areas such as Cape Coast, Mankessim, Kasoa, Sekondi and Tarkwa. The top performing Vendors received Motor Bikes, Smart TVs, Laptops, and CCTV Cameras, with the overall best MoMo Agent for the South-West Business District took home Ghc50,000 electronic cash and motorbike. In 2009, MTN Ghana sets out to redefine the course of Ghana’s financial sector with the launch of MoMo and after 10 years of implementation, this e-financial mechanism had become a major bug in homes and the business community in general. The service has 11.3 million subscribers with 250,000 agents and 200,000 merchants across the country. Mr Haruna attributed the successes over the last decade to the critical contributions of merchants and agents. The Senior Manager for MTN South-West Business, Mr. Prince Nyarko said the event had always presented an opportunity to take stock of the year’s activities and reward the excellence and resilience of the vendors. He described the financial year as a difficult one with the introduction of e-levy as well as the challenges customers had with accessing their MoMo wallets during the sim barring exercise, adding, ” but our resilience as a people has enabled us to soldier on and today, we are here to celebrate our achievements and strategize for next year.” The top three awards were picked by Big Joe Ventures from Kasoa, who took home a plaque, motorbike and an electronic cash of 50,000, Rossey Venture, motorbike and an electronic cash of 20,000 and Peoples Investment a motorbike and an electronic cash of 10,000. Source: GNA