It’s Unreasonable to Demand Ofori-Atta’s Dismissal
The president of Concerned Voters Movement (CVM), Razak Kojo Opoku, has said that resignation or being sacked is something that is normal in the body politics of the British and, therefore, it is not reasonable for people to be calling for the dismissal of the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, following the sacking Ghanaian-born UK Finance Minister (Chancellor), Kwasi Kwarteng.
According to him, such demands do not make sense because the two circumstances are not the same, because the track record of Ken Ofori-Atta outweighs that of the dismissed UK Minister, who was in office for only 38-days.
In an article copied The Anchor, the pressure group convener said, “How do you compare and justify the track record of Ken Ofori-Atta as Finance Minister for almost 6 years to that of Kwasi Kwarteng, who lasted for only 38 days?”
“To me, it does not make sense to demand that Ken Ofori-Atta should resign because of UK Kwasi Kwarteng who was only in office for just 38 days,” he stated.
He argued that, “Ken Ofori-Atta perhaps is the only Finance Minister, since Independence who has been able to achieve a single-digit inflation for four consecutive years.”
Below is Published, The Full Statement:
It is NOT Reasonable to Call for the Dismissal of Ken Ofori-Atta Because of UK’s Kwasi Kwarteng:
After the sacking of UK Finance Minister(Chancellor), many anti-Ken Ofori-Atta have been calling for the resignation or dismissal of Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister of Ghana, as if the two individuals are serving the same Country with the same issues.
What has the sacking of UK Finance Minister got to do with Ghana’s Finance Minister? It has no correlation at all.
Clearly, the Conservative Party might have used Kwasi Kwarteng to save the job of the Prime Minister of UK. There is no way Kwasi Kwarteng will have read the September Mini-budget without the approval of Liz Truss and her team of Ministers.
“Mr. Kwasi Kwarteng’s downfall was set in motion by the Mini-budget on 23rd September 2022 in which he announced £45billion in unfunded tax cuts”.
Meanwhile, the U-turn by Lizz Truss, the UK Prime Minister and the Conservative Party is to raise corporation tax from 19% to 25% next year April despite the UK Prime Minister and her Conservative Party promising not to do so in the Mini-budget.
It is very interesting to note that, the Conservative Party has now had 4 Finance Ministers (Chancellors) in the past 3 years and these are:
- Kwasi Kwarteng
- Nadhim Zahawi
- Rishi Sunak
- Sajid Javid
The next Finance Minister to be appointed by Lizz Truss will be the 7th Finance Minister appointed by the Conservative Party in the last 12 years.
I honestly think that, Kwasi Kwarteng was just used as the scapegoat by the UK Prime Minister after the backlash of the Mini-budget approved collectively by the Conservative Party.
Resignation or being sacked is something that is normal in UK body politics. So far, 11 UK Prime Ministers have resigned from office since the start of the 20th century, with 9 belonging to the Conservative Party and the other 2 from the Labour Party.
9 UK Prime Ministers Who Resigned (from the Conservative Party)
- Neville Chamberlain
- Winston Churchill
- Anthony Eden
- Harold Macmillan
- Margaret Thatcher
- John Major
- David Cameron
- Theresa May
- Boris Johnson
2 UK Prime Ministers Who Resigned (from the Labour Party)
- Tony Blair
- Gordon Brown
To me, it does not make sense to demand that Ken Ofori-Atta should resign because of UK Kwasi Kwarteng who was only in office for just 38 days.
How do you compare and justify the track record of Ken Ofori-Atta as Finance Minister for almost 6 to that of Kwasi Kwarteng who lasted for only 38 days.
Ken Ofori-Atta perhaps is the only Finance Minister since Independence who has been able to achieve a single digit inflation for 4 consecutive years:
2018——7.81%
2019—– 7.14%
2020——9.89%
2021——-9.99%
Why must we have to use the inflation rate of 2022 to judge the performance of Ken Ofori-Atta out of the inflation rates for 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021?
Is Ken Ofori-Atta the only person managing the affairs of the economy? Certainly not.
Is Ken Ofori-Atta the only member of Cabinet? Certainly not.
Is Ken Ofori-Atta the only member or leader of the Economic Management Team of the Government? Certainly not.
Is Ken Ofori-Atta the Bank of Ghana? Certainly not.
Pushing all the blame on Ken Ofori-Atta and using him as an escape goat is completely unwise.
We share the glory and the shame together as a Party and Government.
NDC kept faith with their Finance Ministers when they took Ghana to the IMF for 10 solid times.
John Agyekum Kufuor kept faith with his Finance Minister when he took Ghana to the IMF under the HIPC Programme.
So what is the problem if Akufo-Addo keeps faith with his Finance Minister after taking Ghana to the IMF?
UK Politics & Economy Never the Same After Brexit: Razak Kojo Opoku Writes
In reality, it seems the Brexit (“the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union”) has been exacerbating long-term economic and political crisis for the United Kingdom. This was expected as “structural changes will take place over the long term as capital and labour adjust to the new trading arrangements.”
It is increasingly becoming clear that, Lizz Truss may find it difficult to survive as the UK Prime Minister considering the prevailing economic climate of UK and the seemingly impatience of the Conservative Party and majority of UK Citizens.
After Brexit Referendum (that is between 2016 – 2022), 3 Prime Ministers have resigned so far from Office and these are:
- David Cameron
- Theresa May
- Boris Johnson
It hasn’t been easy managing the economy and political environment of UK after Brexit coupled with the impact of COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine War
The following are the shortest-serving Chancellors of UK (Finance Ministers):
- Iain Macleod, served for 30 days.
- Kwasi Kwarteng, served for 38 days.
- Nadhim Zahawi, served for 63 days.
- Sajid Javid, served for 204 days.
- Stanley Baldwin, served for 307 days.
- Peter Thorneycroft, served for 358 days.
- Hugh Gaitskell, served for 374 days.
- Harold Macmillan, served for 390 days.
Don’t use your ignorance and unjustified hatred to call for the head of Ken Ofori-Atta because of the sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng, UK Finance.
Kwasi Kwarteng is NOT the only Chancellor who has served for a short-term.
As a Party’s fanatic, you cannot speak and admit the truth because of individual Presidential interest, so let’s use Ken Ofori-Atta as the scapegoat and push all the blame on him for the prevailing economic situation in Ghana. That to me is a complete joke and an act of dishonesty. Ghanaians are wiser than you think and imagine.
Let’s put the individual Flagbearership Agenda and seeming Whispering Campaign on hold until successful negotiation with the IMF because if things don’t change for the better even Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammed can never win the 2024 general elections for the NPP or is it about just occupying space as the leader of an opposition Party?
The Government team is focusing on negotiating with the IMF for positive outcomes so let’s pray and support them as a collective force
Source: Anchorghana
