Martin Amidu, a former special prosecutor, claims that the administration has not learned from its “unpopular economic judgments” and has disregarded precedent in its discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He asserted that attempts by President Akufo-Addo and the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to “speed track” discussions with the IMF without wider consultations might only worsen the already precarious economic state of the nation. As there is little to no openness in the continuing discussions with the IMF, Mr. Amidu thinks the government and its officials are acting with impunity.
He pointed out that the 2023 budget will be imposed on Ghanaians without any open discussions, same to how the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) was done without taking into account concerns voiced. He said in a statement that Ghanaian patriots and civil society organizations “should, therefore, heed the signal of impunity sent out by the government to use the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a smokescreen behind which to ram down Ghanaians’ throats an austerity budget in November 2022 without any extensive and in-depth transparent and accountable consultations with “we the people” as required under any democracy.
The compradors who are currently in power in Ghana “operate on the premise that Ghana is a satellite state of international capital and its neocolonialist masters to the extent that they have established such a relationship with and control over the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it is capable of expediting negotiations with the IMF to ensure that key aspects of the program are reflected in the 2023 budget statement.” Mr. Amidu stated that Ghanaians had a right to know the details of the IMF’s discussions with the government.
The President, who he described as “a well-known comprador bourgeoisie who has pushed this country into its present economic mess,” as well as his family and friends, he said, serve as a constant reminder of the government’s apparent collaboration with the IMF to divert the nation’s fortunes elsewhere. In an essay headed “IMF and US prepared to wreck Ghana,” he cited Craig Murray, a former deputy British high commissioner to Ghana.
It is an understatement to say that the majority of Ghanaians opposed the E-Levy, but the corrupt government purchased the political elite’s support and passage of the E-Levy into law with arrogance and impunity. Everyone can observe how successfully the policy was received by Ghanaians based on their subsequent response. Martin Amidu continued, “Hopefully, the government has not forgotten the amount of effort and work it needed to organize post facto discussions with Ghanaians after it had delivered the 2022 Budget Statement to Parliament without first respecting the opinions of the country’s regular voters.