Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta threw salvo at journalists when he was asked whether he will resign following Ghana’s return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Calmly he responded, “That’s not a very good question, you know? It is almost like telling a father to resign from his children because he has changed his mind.”
“There are times that decisions have to be made for the survival of a country and therefore in circumstances such as COVID and Ukraine war, which are not typical, it has changed the environment and sensible people will change their minds,” he said.
He was speaking to the media when he arrived at the New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates’ conference at the Accra Sports Stadium Saturday 16th July, 2022.
The Finance Minister has come under severe pressure from sections of the Ghanaian public after the government made a U-turn and went to the IMF for financial bail.
Mr. Ofori-Atta had insisted the NPP government will not seek the support of the Bretton Woods Institutions and many have called on him to resign as a matter of principle following the President’s call to the IMF for support.
The Minister also rebuffed claims the governing party should not be holding a conference within the current difficult climate of the country’s economy.
Issues of governance of a country, he said, are always important and therefore imperative for the NPP to go ahead with the conference.
He pointed out that the party has, however, moderated its budget by the limited advertisement billboards which go to show the NPP is sensitive to the current moments of the situation.
“But I don’t think you can ever let the issue of governance go because democracy is important. It does cause some amount of money to do that.”
“Clearly you can see an environment that is excited about the future by being able to run a congress of this nature in a way that mimics the situation in the world,” he added.