Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)
operating in the country have called
on government to involve Ghanaians
in the negotiations for a bailout from
the International Monetary Fund
(IMF).
According to the CSOs, the concerns
of the citizens must be taken into
account with regards to the IMF
bailout.
“It is important to state that the final
agreement on the bailout will be for
the people of Ghana, hence the need
for broad consultation with citizens
during the course of the
negotiations,” the Civil Society
Platform on the IMF Bailout said on
Tuesday at its national consultation
in Accra.
Chairperson of the Platform, Joseph
Winful, in a remark at the event,
which was on the theme, “Facilitating
national dialogue and advocating for
effective implementation of IMF
Bailout for Ghana” said government
has the mandate to negotiate on
behalf of the people, however we
want to be part of the decision-
making process because it is going to
affect us.”
Ghana’s team is being led by Dr
Kwesi Botchway, with Minister of
Finance Seth Terkper and Governor of
the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Kofi
Wampah as members of the technical
team.
Under the three-year IMF programme,
the government of Ghana is expected
to receive a total amount of $1.5
billion from the IMF.
Vice President of Imani Ghana, Kofi
Bentil, in a statement at the forum,
pointed out that “the bailout is a
reflection of the failure of Ghana, a
reflection or inability to solve our
own problem.”
He said corruption and reckless
spending by some government
officials had hampered the economic
advancement of the country.
An economist from the University of
Ghana, Dr. Godfred A. Bokpin, in a
presentation, stressed that the
economic stability of the country
should not be achieved at the
expense of the poor.
He emphasized the need for
government to control its expenditure
and find innovative ways of raising
revenue domestically.
The CS Platform is made up of IMANI
Ghana, Send-Ghana, Ghana Integrity
Initiative (GII), Centre for Democratic
Development (CDD), Financial
Accountability and Transparency,
Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition
(GACC), African Centre for
Parliamentary Affairs, Penplusbytes
and Oxfam.
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