….Everybody should ‘Goweyou’
Those who thought Ken Ofori-Atta, was going to leave his cousin, Akufo-Addo’s government quietly, peacefully and lovingly in the ministerial reshuffle signifying the day; the Valentine’s Day changes were made, will have to think about it again, as Ken is going nowhere.
The former Finance Minister, will remain an integral part of his cousin’s government, something he and other family members had years worked to build, and even in 2008 sacrificed and collapsed his Databank Financial Services and eventually brought him to power in 2017.
According to Asaase Radio, owned by the ruling family and run by another cousin of the President, Gabby Asare-Otchere, Mr Ofori-Atta, is set to be named a Senior Presidential Advisor on all matters relating to the economy, serving as the president’s special envoy on international investment and the capital markets.
Presidential insiders disclosed that, Ofori-Atta and the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, are not seeing eye-to-eye, yet the President has decided to draw him closer to the seat of government; the Jubilee House.
The development is seen more as an attempt to spite the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer and potential successor if all goes well for him at the 2024 general elections.
The insiders also told The Herald that Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Member of Parliament (MP) Karaga in the Northern Region, who succeeded Mr Ofori-Atta, is more of a stooge than a Finance Minister, as Mr Ofori-Atta’s network of Databank staff appointees are still in place and running the ministry.
Dr Amin, cannot dismantle the network or else suffer consequences.
Other interesting reports The Herald is picking from the Jubilee House is that the President did not inform the Vice-President about the reshuffle. His input was not sought after demonstrating the extent to which the relationship between the two has deteriorated to an alarming level.
Dr Bawumia, is said to have heard about the reshuffle in the media and started scrambling for details.
It was explained that, the President, has not been happy with Dr Bawumia for some time now and things worsened further after the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) address where the NPP flag bearer, singled out the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Phillip Addison for praise on the sustenance of the Ghanaian economy.
Dr Bawumia, had said at the UPSA on February 7, 2024, that the Economic Management Team headed by him, was merely advisory with the cabinet led by President Nana Akufo-Addo, is not obliged to abide by its suggestions.
After this, Dr Bawumia proceeded to reveal his abhorrence to the way the economy has been run by Mr Ofori-Atta with incessant levies, including the E-Levy, Emissions Levy and the now suspended 15 per cent VAT on electricity.
The Herald is informed that, ahead of the ministerial reshuffle, the President and his cousins most of whom had had frosty relationships, suddenly buried their hatchets and united to debate the implications of Bawumia’s speech relevance and interest.
The reshuffle was done not to address anything in particular, but to kick out party persons perceived as Bawumia’s men and women in the government to teach him a bitter lesson.
Some meetings were held daily even at the Presidential villa between the President and his family, and that is where the government is run, without input from the Vice-President.
On Valentine’s Day, while many were celebrating love, Bawumia’s official residence at Cantonments, Accra according to insiders was like a funeral ground, where some of the fired ministers and deputy ministers congregated to mourn their dismissal from the government.
Meanwhile, some Ghanaian social media, users have taken to the internet to express their faux shock that the former minister is getting a new government appointment.
Ken was to go two years ago, but the President kept him in office, despite concerns from NPP MPs who had petitioned him to sack him, over the financial mess the country finds itself in.
Civil society activist, Bright Simons posted a screen-grab of the news report with the caption “drama” on his X profile.
Another user commented, “…more advisors, more allowances. Add to the wage [bill] while pursuing additional taxes as the only approach to fiscal consolidation.”
Another user, stated that earlier assertions that Ken Ofori Atta, was sacked are not true as this new position is an elevation “in the sense that he will be the most important figure in decision-making in terms of financial and economic matters”.
