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Senior Partner with Africa Legal Associates, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko has averred that the New Patriotic Party was softer with its criticism on the the ruling National Democratic Congress when the latter turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout programme in 2015.

In an interview with Accra-based Asaase Radio, Mr. Otchere-Darko explained that the NDC at the time it sought the bailout was not grappling with any crisis.

He added that the NDC failed to take charge of the economy which was handed over to them by the John Agyekum Kuffuor-led administration.

“[with the] benefit of hindsight, I think we were even softer on the NDC. Let’s look at the situation in 2014, 2015.
2014, they tried to go to the bond market, it didn’t work and [in] 2015 they needed the support of the World Bank and the rest of it and the IMF to bring back confidence to even go to the sovereign bond market.

“What was the situation in 2014, 2015? In 2014 when by October our Cedi had depreciated according to FT report…about 40%...what was the situation at that time? There was no global crisis…” Gabby said.

“You [NDC] had new source of revenue. Thanks to President Kufuor, he cleared all our debt. So you have started the process of reaccumulating debts because at the time I believe debt to GDP ratio was 40-50% so that was the situation. No pandemic, no supply chain issues that is affecting every country, citizen of the world. We didn’t have that. It was all homegrown.

“And it was a government that didn’t have grips on the economy that it had control over or supposedly was to have control over. So the situation for me is not the same. You cannot compare what compelled Ghana to go on an IMF programme after Kufuor in 2015 to what is happening now,” he added.

President Akufo-Addo on July 1 ordered Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to commence formal engagements with IMF inviting the Fund to support an economic program put together by the government.

The decision by the government has since generated a heated debate.