"I've Been Misunderstood": Kwaku Kwarteng Says His Opinion Piece Was Not An Attack On NPP Government
- Former Deputy Finance Minister, Kwaku Kwarteng, has denied attacking the ruling New Patriotic Party in his opinion piece
- According to him, his opinion piece has been misconstrued to be an attack on the ruling government when it was meant as an internal memo to government appointees
- He said now that the article is in the public domain, he is hopeful Ghana's political class would heed his advice and transform the nation
The Chairman of the Economy Committee of Parliament, Kwaku Kwarteng, said his recent opinion piece was not an attack on the ruling government.
He said it was meant as an internal memo for members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) serving within the government.
Source: UGC
Kwaku Kwarteng in an interview on JoyNews on Monday, July 29, 2024, said his article, while he had meant it for the NPP, also encompassed advice that could be applied by other parties in the country.
He said following the release of the article into the public domain several misunderstandings and misinterpretations of it have been making the rounds compelling him to clarify the issue.
He explained that his article was mainly concerned with the country’s future and not necessarily a critique of the ruling administration.
Kwarteng explained that several of the issues raised in the article were not new and that he had made similar points on the floor of Parliament in previous times.
Kwaku Kwarteng has been a staunch advocate for cutting government expenditure, stabilising the cedi and supporting the private sector to generate wealth for the country’s prosperity.
He said now that the article is in the public domain, he is hopeful that all factions of the political divide would digest the content of the article and imbibe some, if not all the advice he suggested.
Kwarteng likens Ghana’s economy to Ponzi scheme
In the said opinion piece, Kwaku Kwarteng, had likened Ghana’s economic management to a Ponzi scheme.
Titled, “To break the eight, we must break the norm,” he blamed the prevailing economic hardships on decades of bad politics and economic mismanagement.
He said that while the country's current situation is due to both external and internal factors, the government cannot ignore the internal factors in its attempt to solve the crisis.
He added that the internal cause of Ghana’s hardship is the tendency of successive governments to overspend on their budgets and borrow money from international lenders to finance further overspending.
According to Kwaku Kwarteng, the vicious cycle of overspending, borrowing to cover debts, and overspending is akin to a Ponzi scheme.
He noted that lenders have refused to lend, which has led to the current economic crisis and warned that if the country continues on this path, it risks the collapse of its democracy.
Kwarteng appointed Chairman of Economy Committee
YEN.com.gh reported that the Obuasi West Member of Parliament, Kwaku Kwarteng, was removed from chairing parliament’s Finance Committee to lead the newly created Economy Committee.
The majority leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, announced the shake-up on the floor of parliament on Friday, June 28, 2024.
The new standing orders created the Economy Committee as a standalone committee from the Finance Committee, but it has very few powers compared to its predecessor.
Proofread by Berlinda Entsie, journalist and copy editor at YEN.com.gh
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Source: YEN.com.gh
