Ken Ofori-Atta

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has hit back at critics calling for his head after government made a U-turn by resorting to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In an exclusive interview with JoyNews during the National Delegates’ Conference of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), he said he will not resign as others have suggested.

According to him, asking him to resign is like “telling a father to resign from his kids because he changed his mind.”

He explained that although he made comments about Ghana not seeking IMF support, the impact of the Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war compelled government to “change his mind” for an IMF bailout.

In the last few days, many Ghanaians including the Minority in Parliament and Former President John Mahama have called for the resignation of the Finance Minister.

John Dramani Mahama charged President Akufo-Addo to urgently replace his Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

In a Facebook post on July 2, Mr Mahama said Mr Ofori-Atta has already lost his credibility, trust and confidence after he supervised “the disastrous collapse of the economy.”

He added that the Finance Minister should not be added to the team of negotiators engaging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for economic support.

“In addition, given his obvious failures, the Vice President must be relieved of his responsibility as Chair of the Economic Management Team to enable the President to reconstitute the team.

“But I am not going to tell any President to drop the Finance Minister or any Minister. That should be left to the President,” he said on Thursday, July 14.