Ghana’s Current Trip to IMF “A Crying Shame”

The pressure group, OccupyGhana, has lashed out at the government for seeking IMF support at a time Ghana’s public finances have taken a severe hit as a result of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo defended his government’s decision to go to the IMF on Thursday, saying all countries around the world are working to return themselves to a state of normalcy following the devastating impact of the pandemic of COVID-19, whose effects have been exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“Economies have been plunged into recessions, businesses have collapsed, and lives and livelihoods have been disrupted. Food and fuel prices have escalated dramatically, as global and domestic inflationary pressures mount. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, the world will make up on lost time,” the president said.

“In our case, we have decided to seek the collaboration of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to repair, in the short run, our public finances, which have taken a severe hit in very recent times as a result, whilst we continue to work on the medium to long-term structural changes that are at the heart of our goal of creating a Ghana Beyond Aid, that is building a resilient, robust Ghanaian economy.”

However, in a statement on Friday (8 July 2022), OccupyGhana said officials have failed to prevent losses and thefts at the public sector, a situation it argued has led the country to the Fund.

“That is why this return to the IMF for a ‘paltry’ US$2 billion leaves a bitter taste in our mouths. We would not be submitting ourselves to this forced and humiliating ‘Ghana [is not yet] beyond aid’ position if we had prevented the losses and thefts in the first place. In the second place, we would not be here if we had taken the simple steps of recovering the monies lost and stolen.

“How credible is this return to the IMF, when the monies we seek, sit comfortably in the bank accounts and pockets of those who caused us to lose the monies or who stole our monies?” OccupyGhana said in the statement.