The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to get rid of Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia and Finance Minister. Ken Ofori-Atta.
The two ‘villains’, according to the party, have been at the centre of recking havoc on the Ghanaian economy leading to the current unspeakable hardships.
The party stressed if the President is serious about bringing the economy back on track and restoring investor confidence then it must solve the last two puzzles by firing the Finance Minister and relieving the Vice President from his post as head of the Economic Management Team.
National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, who made the call at a press conference on Wednesday argued the once so-called solid economic management team has been reduced to a gaseous team who have deserted their roles and are nowhere to be found in these difficult and critical times.
“It is about time our tired, clueless and incompetent Vice President is finally relieved for new ideas and competent hands to take over and steer the Economic Management Team at this time of unspeakable hardships.”
According to him, the Finance Minister has also proven to be an unmitigated disaster when it comes to economic management.
“President Akufo-Addo’s cousin has run down our economy through excessive borrowings that his personal company Databank profit from.”
“Today, his name scares away investors and evokes a feeling of insecurity for every Ghanaian. Ken Ofori-Atta has become like stale water in a bottle and the earlier President Akufo-Addo fire his under-performing cousin, the better for the economy and all of us.”
According to Sammy Gyamfi, the only way to begin the process of rebuilding and to get a good deal from the IMF is to sack the Finance Minister and immediately appoint a fresh able hand to lead the IMF negotiations.
He argued as a responsible opposition the NDC cannot sit aloof while the economy descends into the precipice and stressed that despite the recalcitrance of the government and its antagonistic attitude to constructive criticism and ideas, the opposition cannot afford to allow the present state of affairs to continue to fester.
The party urged Ghanaians to demand the government take urgent steps to ameliorate the suffering of the masses and help stabilize the economy.
The NDC to this end demanded the immediate repeal of the obnoxious and counterproductive E-levy Act of 1.5% on momo and other electronic transactions; repeal of the punitive COVID-19 levy of 1% on the VAT Flat Rate and the National Health Insurance Levy; scrapping of crippling fuel taxes such as the Special Petroleum Tax that has outlived its usefulness, the needless Sanitation Levy (“BORLA” tax ), and the new Energy Sector Levy of 20 pesewas per liter of diesel and Petrol and 18 pesewas per kilogram of LPG.
The party also called for the suspension of the 9 pesewas BOST margin and the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy of 16 pesewas and 14 pesewas per liter of petrol and diesel respectively both of which are not being applied for their intended purposes.