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A Lecturer at the Central University College (CUC), Benjamin Okyere Ankrah has suggested that Ghana’s Finance Minister, Seth Terkper only reads the Book of Lamentations in the Bible and that has affected his handling of the nation's finances. 

The words of that book of the Bible, he said, have influenced his work for Ghana and that has contributed largely to the poor performance of the country’s economy.

“When Minister of Finance picks his Bible, all he reads is the Book of Lamentations and hence he has been lamenting everywhere he goes including Parliament, about how people owe the Government of Ghana…he laments about how Ghana owes others as well…and offers no hope at all,” Mr Ankrah declared on Adom FM.

The Lecturer who was commenting on how the Ministry has failed to retrieve money owed the state by Jospong Group of Companies which purchased the Ghana Consolidated Diamond (GCD) in Akwatia, said he has failed to understand the work of the Finance Minister.

Jospong Group acquired GCD in August 2011 under the Divestiture Implementation (DIC) with the sole aim of investing over 100 million dollars in a five-year multi-phase programme to provide jobs for 2,000 workers and ultimately 50,000 people directly or indirectly.

The acquisition of the company “marks another milestone in the progress of the nation towards the enhancement of the living standards of our people, through the creation of jobs, socio-economic development, and the establishment of a peaceful and harmonious environment,” then Vice President John Mahama said when he inaugurated the company.

This expectation has however waned with Jospong Group, failing to settle the amount of GHC 17.4 Million which was the cost of the company after four years in charge. The company has only paid GHC3.1 Million cedis of the total cost.

What is worse, workers of the facility allege, is that Jospong Group has started selling off machines of the company as scrap.

Mr Ankrah, clearly upset with this development called on Ghanaians to lay the blame at the doorsteps of the Finance and Mines Ministries, who have failed to task Jospong Group to settle the remaining amount.

“Minister of Finance has failed to go in for this money that Mr. Agyapong of Zoomlion owes Ghana…and even a Minister of State is failing to go and collect the money but lamenting about how Ghana is owing other countries…,” he said.

He also called on the people of Akwatia to vote out their MP, Baba Jamal for failing to intervene to ensure the people of the area benefitted from the divestiture of GCD.