[ 2014-07-25 ]

Near blows at Flagstaff House …
A near exchange of blows in the presence of
President Mahama at the Flagstaff House between
Finance Minister Seth Terkper and the
President’s Economic Advisory Team led to the
exclusion of the government’s most competent
economic brains from contributing to the mid-year
review budget presented to the august House of
Parliament last week.

A high level source yesterday told the Enquirer
that the story, leaked by a certain Laryea
Mohammed, “is largely true.

This tragedy comes at a time when the President
has been working round the clock to bring all
lands on deck to fix the ailing economy.

Insiders say the feud reached a boiling point a
few weeks ago when the President, in response to
the Occupy Flagstaff House demo, called an
emergency economic meeting to address the concerns
of the demonstrators.

The President insisted he was not going to allow
the petition of the demonstrators to gather dust
and that the petition needed to be reviewed based
on its merit and appropriate action taken to
remedy the concerns of the citizens.

At that meetings, the minister of finance was said
to have asked cabinet to approve a mid-year review
budget he recently put before the house and
indicated that the solution to the problems of the
demonstrators and the nation at budget.

However, in the debate that ensured, Dr. Nii Moi
Thompson, the President’s economic advisor, was
said to have described the policies in the
reviewing as doing more harm than good.

He was said to have opposed the imposition of
additional taxes on a weak economy by Mr. Terkper,
while adding that besides budget and trade
deficits, the finance minister was also guilty of
a credibility deficit,” which was why donors
were withholding funds from Ghana and Ghana was
being downgraded.

The finance minister, a former technocrat at the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), was said not to
have taken kindly to the description, leading to
an exchange of words between the two gentlemen and
near trading of blows.

It took the genteel President, reportedly, to cool
tempers during which time Dr. Omane Boamah,
(Coming Up) Minister of Communications, suggested
that in view of Dr. Thompson’s critique, a
committee be set up to review Minister “Terkper
stein” proposals, a position said to have been
supported by both the Vice President and the
President.

Upset with the President and his team, angry Mr.
Terkper was said to have not taken too kindly to
the outcome of that meeting.

In retaliation, he decided to exclude the economic
management team from the reconsideration of his
policies.

A day before he appeared before the august House
of Parliament, he hurriedly convened a meeting at
a one-star hotel in Accra, involving some few
ministers, not blessed with expertise in
economics, the president’s communication
advisor, and Dr. Kpessa Whyte, a presidential
staffer and political scientist.

The economic management team, headed by no less a
person than the respected Vice President, was not
involved.

Sources say a hard copy of the mid-team review was
reluctantly sent by Mr. Terkper to the Veeps house
mid-night, when he was almost retiring to bed, in
a strategic move to limit any input from the Vice
President, who is a former deputy finance minister
and governor of the bank of Ghana and a respected
consultant for the World Bank.

Deep throat sources say there is a long-running
confidence deficit hanging on the neck of finance
minister Seth Terkper, as far as Vice President
Amissah-Arthur, who is chairman of the economic
management team is concerned.

The recent impasse between Mr. Terkper and the
President’s economic advisor, Dr. Nii Moi
Thompson, is said to be raising tempers in the
Mahama administration and giving the President
more headaches.

The one-man budget submitted by Terkper attracted
criticism from both home and abroad as an
inadequate response to the economic problems.

Meanwhile, the economic arms of two of Ghana’s
strategic development partners have been reviewing
the mid-year review budget (COMING UP) and the
report emanating from the analysis compelled an
“okro mouth” staff to almost cause a blunder.

MPs in particular say Mr. Terkper is making their
jobs difficult. Others pronouncement of his
confidence in the finance minister has compelled
two reports of two diplomatic missions from coming
out, as it would be deemed to be an attack on the
President.

Source - The Enquirer

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