Kwabena Agyepong Criticises Akufo-Addo For Keeping Ofori-Atta As Finance Minister Amid Economic Challenges

• Kwabena Agyepong has said the president must remove the finance minister from office because he has performed poorly
• The NPP stalwart say it was baffling that the Nana Akufo-Addo would still keep the Ken Ofori-Atta in office despite running the country's economy down
• The former General Secretary criticised Mr Ofori-Atta for poorly managing the banking sector clean up

A leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, has criticised Nana Akufo-Addo for keeping Ken Ofori-Atta as finance minister.

Mr Agyepong, a former General Secretary of the governing NPP, said it was baffling that the president would keep the man who, from evidence, has run the economy down.

He told Kessben TV last Friday that the president set a high standard before he assumed the presidency and urged him to stick by those standards.

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His comments follow the president’s surprise rejection of calls to reshuffle his non-performing ministers. Nana Akufo-Addo said he was satisfied with the performance of his appointees. He also said people calling for the reshuffle intend to destabilise his government.

But Kwabena Agyepong disagrees:

“The tone that you set, the values that you espouse rubs off on your cabinet, your government and eventually the country that we live in. I wasn’t too happy with some of the remarks. Because you have to set a very high bar, and you have to demand results from your team.

“You should never be satisfied and say you are okay. Especially when the results do not show [they are performing]. If you are a political leader, you look at the data…it is there. There is clear evidence…we are in dangerous times. The only major thing that the president can do to arrest the situation is to clear out the managers of the economy; it is a fact,” he said.

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He said the president must not reject the calls to sack his non-performing ministers.

“You can’t let the same people who have driven us to this stage remain in office. And nobody is looking for Ofori-Atta’s job, but we are looking for the economic health of the country. Some of us have to be added and be counted. I will rather die speaking the truth than be populist because I am a member of the governing NPP,” he stressed.

Ghana is facing economic hardship. The government blames the Russia-Ukraine war and the Covid-19 pandemic. However, some analysts say excessive borrowing and a lack of prudent management of the country's finances exacerbated the twin effects of the war and the pandemic. The country has started negotiations with the IMF for a financial bailout.

Electricity And Water Tariffs Increased: PURC Announces Utility Rates By Up To 27.15% From September 1

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YEN.com.gh has reported in a previous story that the utility regulator, Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), has announced higher tariffs for electricity and water from September 1, 2022.

The cost of electricity has been hiked by 27.15%, while water will cost 21.55% more. This means if a consumer used to load GH¢200 on their prepaid card for a month, they would need more than GH¢250 for the same period.

The PURC announced the new higher rates in a press release on Monday, August 15, explaining that the rates were agreed upon after concluding its regulatory process for examining and approving utility tariffs covering 2022 to 2025.

Source: YEN.com.gh