Member of Parliament for the Bolgatanga Central Constituency on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress, Isaac Adongo has alleged that the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta recently attempted to manipulate him in a bid to prevent him from disclosing his (Ofori-Atta’s) mismanagement of the country’s finances to the international lending community.
Speaking in an interview on Dreamz FM, Mr. Adongo said members of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance of which he is Deputy Ranking Member had gone to Washington DC in the United States of America (USA) to meet development partners including investors.
As part of their meetings, he indicated, they had scheduled an engagement with one of the lending agencies which have been key in funding Ghana’s developmental projects over the years in Washington DC.
Mr. Ofori-Atta, who was also in the city at the time, fearing that he (Adongo) in particular could say something in the meeting which might erode investor’s confidence in the country considering his constant criticism of his (Ofori-Atta’s) management of the country’s financial resources, quickly reached out to him and the other members of the committee for a meeting, he claimed.
He, however, refused to show up for the meeting as he questioned the propriety of such a meeting.
“When we went to Washington, he invited us for a meeting at Renaissance Hotel in Washington, I refused to attend the meeting. You know why? You work with me in Ghana, you’ve never invited us a team to a meeting, you have never discussed your problems of managing this economy with us and sought our solutions. Somebody pays for me to attend a meeting in Washington and because I’m about to engage agencies that you fear if I speak what I speak, you may not be comfortable, you want to manage my thought process?” he questioned.
He continued, “It happened just recently. We were supposed to have a meetings with one of the major funding agencies that push a lot of funding for Ghana and we were supposed to meet the investors. I don’t want to mention their names. A day before that meeting in the evening we are invited to a meeting at the Renaissance Hotel.
They came and knocked at my door four times, I pretended sleeping. Because if you really think that I’m a player and an important key stakeholder in the governance of your finances, that is not where to do it. You can’t come and meet your Deputy Ranking on Finance in Washington when you’ve never met him in Ghana and you are not the one who sponsored my trip. Why do you want to meet me? To discuss what?”
Mr. Adongo chastised the minister for his lack of engagement and consultation of key stakeholders including the Finance Committee of Parliament on government’s fiscal policies.
According to him, unlike previous Finance Ministers, who had rapports with the opposition and engaged them on every major fiscal policy of the government, the current minister has, since he assumed office in 2017, sidelined members of the Finance Committee of Parliament as he sees especially the Minority members as enemies of the government due to their constant criticisms of his handling of the affairs of the ministry.
This, he believes, has contributed to the current economic challenges the country facing.
Mr. Adongo argued that his side’s criticisms of the government and its actions seek to improve the governance of the country hence, the Minister’s failure to see it in that light and tolerate them is an indication that he is unfit for such an office.
