Dr. Addison is emboldened by actions of Akufo-Addo and Ken Ofori-Atta

As said, coming events cast their shadows in advance. This highly nepotistic government run by President Akufo-Addo is the undoing of this highly insensitive and unpopular regime.

To always blame Ghana’s appalling economic situation on exogenous variables such as the subdued COVID-19 pandemic and Ukraine invasion instead of correcting the self-inflicted economic situation by this government is disingenuous.

The near collapse of Ghana’s economy when COVID-19 ‘visited’ the country in 2020 is a testament that the fundamentals of the economy were not solidly anchored to withstand any unforeseen economic headwinds contrary to claims made by the Finance Minister and the ‘solid’ Economic Management Team led by Dr. Bawumia.

If Nana Akufo-Addo hadn’t sacked Ken Ofori-Atta for all the wrong reasons and he refused to resign himself, hasn't that emboldened failed Dr. Ernest Addison at the Central Bank of Ghana (BOG)? I think that singular act of the President emboldened Dr. Addison!

To refresh our recent memories, the economic woes of this country under the touted Yale-trained Investment Banker, Ken Ofori-Atta by President Akufo-Addo culminated in the censure of Ken Ofori-Atta and numerous calls on him to vacate his post to allow for fresh ideas and energy at the Ministry of Finance.

Looking at the precarious economic health of the country in terms of the climbing national debt, draconian DDEP implementation, as well as the ‘proud nation’ claim, which turned out to be a U-turn IMF bailout to salvage the sinking economic ship under Ken Ofori-Atta’s direct watch, he should not have survived in a reshuffle let alone to stay in office from 2017 until now.

The economic ‘hemorrhage’ via numerous corruption scandals under this
government is not helping matters too! Unsurprisingly, President Akufo-Addo is unable to reshuffle or sack his cousin, Ken Ofori- Atta for reasons of familial relationship but not because he is performing his ministerial duties excellently well. What moral right does President Akufo-Addo have to have left his cousin untouched and wants to sack other appointees? None!

When the pressure on the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta was at its crescendo coming from about 90 dissenting NPP MPs to boycott government business together with the Minority in Parliament, President Akufo-Addo promised his NPP MPs he would relieve Ken Ofori-Atta of his post after the IMF loan approval.

It is common knowledge Ken Ofori-Atta said he would not resign and would only lose his post if the President sacked him. Till now, Ken Ofori-Atta has stayed put in his position as Finance Minister!

The sins of this current BOG Governor and his two deputies are numerous and cannot be overlooked by well-meaning Ghanaians. In fact, does it make any sense that the very BOG that closed over 400 domestic banks and other deposit-taking institutions for financial indiscipline and mismanagement also engaged in even
worse financial malpractices?

The BOG’s 2022 annual report revealed GHc60.8 billion losses recorded by the BOG and negative equity together with weak reserves for a very short period of import cover and other financial and economic challenges that the country is faced with.

Despite these challenges, the GOB decided to embark on an expensive new Headquarters building project of almost $250 million at this wrong time. Is this not a misplacement of priorities?

The Dr. Addison-led BOG team together with the Finance Ministry is accused by the Minority in Parliament of exceeding the threshold of 5% of lending (‘printing money) to the government and writing off billions (GHc) of debts owed by the government of Ghana without recourse to the Parliament for prior approval, which contravenes the Bank of Ghana (Amendment) Act, 2016 (Act 918) and the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921) of the country.

These are serious infractions, which require serious attention from the citizenry. Therefore, the Minority-led #OccupyBOGProtest on 03.10.2023 was an appropriate conduct to demand accountability and justice for the people of Ghana by asking the BOG and his deputies to resign for fresher ideas and energy at the Central Bank of Ghana.

Instead of the BOG boss, Dr. Addison to resign or at least keep quiet, he rather unpalatably characterized the #OccupyBOG Protesters as ‘hooligans’ coupled with his show of disrespect to the demonstrators for asking BOG’s head of security to receive the petition on his behalf. Enough is indeed enough!

Although Dr. Addison’s irresponsible and nauseating comment is condemnable, he is simply emboldened to do and say whatever he prefers because he is confident his Appointor, President Akufo-Addo will not sack him like Ken Ofori-Atta. Additionally, several infractions caused by the BOG team are enabled by the Finance Minister, i.e., exceeding the 5% limit without prior Parliamentary approval.

It was the duty of the Finance Minister to have informed Parliament but no official record in Parliament showing that indeed happened. What stopped Nana Akufo-Addo from replacing the BOG Governor since he is not performing satisfactorily on his job?

This clearly shows that we have an insensitive government and the actions of the President, and his cousin, Ken Ofori-Atta emboldened the BOG Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison, to act with impunity, call the bluff of the demonstrators who are a critical mass of Ghanaians, and remain at the post.

This can only happen in a defective democracy, which Ghana is, unfortunately, witnessing under this governing NPP government led by Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia for the past 7 years. The power of the thumb should not be taken for granted.