Friday,
April 18, 2014
Folks, Ghana's Minister of Finance and Economic
Planning, Seth Terkper, really has a tough skin. Never in our history have we
had any government appointee of his calibre who could soak up so much pressure
and still maintain his composure to do what he is in office to do and still be
at post despite the onslaught of public criticism and intrigues from his own
party.
Even
when some think that they know more than he does (As you can infer from this
news report):
Is
he still at post because the appointing authority wants him to be there (and
for what reason?) or because that appointing authority can't remove him from
office to suit the purposes of those agitating for his removal? Or simply
because the appointing authority himself is not sure of how to handle affairs?
We
recognize the fact that appointments to such positions are made by forces often
beyond the control of the President (especially in our Ghanaian context)!!
Power
brokers know who will serve their interests best and go for him/her---and they
do all they can to retain that appointee at post, damn the consequences, for as
long as their purposes will continue to be served!! Plain fact in Ghanaian
politics!!
No
matter what it may be, Seth Terkper is a rare example of a government appointee
under whom the Cedi is crumbling to the chagrin of the citizens and the
business community. Many other liabilities in the economy are evident; but who
cares?
And
he still has the guts to speak authoritatively on happenings regarding the
national economy!
The
Cedi is not faring well; neither have measures put in place by the Bank of
Ghana to control its depreciation by the day. Nor anything done by the
government. A matter of a steeplechase being run with the economy!!
Those
in the NDC putting pressure on President Mahama to remove him from office must
by now have learnt their lesson the hard way because President Mahama has
quickly bared it all and refused to bow to the pressure that they have mounted
on him. Seth Terkper is his man and will continue to be his man, even when
there are revelations that the signature of the Minister responsible for the
petroleum sector has been forged to ditch the economy!!
Terkper
is still in office, although the Cedi continues to depreciate and the threat of
a further worsening of the economy gradually becomes apparent.
Remember
that the European Union's Economic Partnership Agreement is waiting at the
touchline to step into the fray to put more pressure on the Ghanaian economy.
It seems no one cares at this stage. It is a free-for-all situation,
superintended over by Terkper!!
The
Amon Nikois and others praised to the high heavens by the NDC's opponents
couldn't salvage the economy. Kufuor's brand of "interrectuals"
(Osafo Marfo, Kwadwo Baah Owiredu, Osei Akoto, and many more of the
noise-making brass band of "interrectuals" couldn't). Can Seth
Terkper? What next for Ghana?
Scary.
Really scary!!
Can
we conclude, then, that Seth Terkper is still at post because he knows how to
manage the economy or because he is supported by the-powers-that-be so nothing
happens to improve the economy? What for, anyway?
I
shall return…
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E-mail:
mjbokor@yahoo.com
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