Adongo to Ofori-Atta: “Stop the updates on the confirmation of Ghana’s sovereign humiliation; it’s embarrassing”

Isaac Adongo, the representative for Bolgatanga Central, has criticised Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta for providing frequent updates on Ghana’s $3 billion project with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Early this week, Ken Ofori-Atta, the minister of finance, provided an update on the plan to Ghanaians, noting that the next review will take place in September and the second tranche will be issued following the fulfilment of the specified requirements in October.

Isaac Adongo, the ranking member of the committee on finance, asked the media why the finance minister seemed to enjoy informing Ghanaians about what he calls “Sovereign Humiliation”

“This week, the Minister of Finance effectively announced that Ghana will formally achieve and announce its position as a bankrupt and insolvent Country in September, ahead of the next IMF review in October and an IMF board consideration in November 2023, and that its sovereign is now worth nothing more than a worthless sheet of paper. So it surprises me that such a humiliating “achievement” is being touted as a modernization of Nkrumah’s Ghana.

Do you recall what he said? We are negotiating a debt restructuring, I see. That’s it, right? Do you restructure your obligations if you are not insolvent or bankrupt? The cost is yours! The worst embarrassment that any nation can have is when its 30 million citizens, who were made guarantors of the sovereign guarantee after we approved it in parliament, are forced to pay because they are sovereign people. Then you claim that none of the 30 million individuals have any money and are unable to pay. Thus, Mr. Adongo remarked, “you battled them when you declared it and the rating agencies said it.

“Now that you’ve said I’ll only announce it, I’ll make it official in September that we are bankrupt, insolvent, and a nation without dignity,” he said. They came to tell us about an accomplishment they had made; in fact, we will formally sign it off in September. Our country and our sovereignty have practically been slaughtered by them, and while our humiliation is now official, the announcement of the burial will be made in September. And many of you were there shooting photos. He was courageous enough to tell us this. Ghana under Nkrumah.

The attempt to reorganise pension funds, as revealed by the finance minister, will worsen the already perilous situation of retirees, Mr. Adongo further cautioned.

As if that weren’t enough, he said that they are still thinking about restructuring debts worth $2.6 billion, or around Ghc260 billion, held by pension funds. As a result of their many years of outstanding service to mother Ghana, many members of our working middle class will become destitute and beggars when they receive their pension. Adongo condemned