Renowned economist Kwame Pianim says it was wrong on the part of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to appoint Ken Ofori-Atta to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The Finance Minister was appointed caretaker Minister of Trade and Industry after Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, the sector minister for the past six years, tendered in his resignation on Thursday, January 5 to pursue other endeavours, most notably contest his party’s flagbearship elections.
In an interview on TV3 on Thursday, January 12, Mr Pianim said Mr Ofori-Atta should not have been given that role.
He insisted Mr Ofori-Atta should be busy by now concentrated on working to get the economy back on track instead of adding on to his responsibility.
“It is wrong!” the investment consultant minced no words in the interview with host Paa Kwesi Asare.
Mr Pianim said if the trend continues with Mr Ofori-Atta at the helm of affairs, Ghana will be led into a ditch.
Asked what he meant by this, he said: “I mean that we are in economic crises,” citing Sri Lanka, where the economic crisis led to the ousting of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
He also said the Finance Minister does not understand the economy he is managing.
“The first time Ofori-Atta started, he said he was going to transform this economy from the Guggisberg economy to a new economy. He did not even understand what the Guggisberg economy was.
“In the Guggisberg economy, he had a plan for cocoa, distribute cocoa, built roads into the villages, where there was timber he built the roads, then he built railways, he built the ports, he built Achimota school, built Legon infrastructure, by the time we got independence we had plenty of reserves.
“So Ken, if the monies he borrowed, if he was running a Guggisberg economy, we could have seen that cash flow coming out from the monies he was borrowing so that we can be able to repay. All the time he was borrowing recklessly. At the back of his mind was that he was not going to pay.”
