Be careful of demons – Kwesi Botchwey cautions government

Adwoa Agyeman — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 08:18:57 +0000

Former Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Kwesi Botchwey, has advised current managers of the Ghanaian economy to be careful of demons that hover around public policy lapses and destroy fiscal consolidation.
According to him, these demons have for decades worked as hard as the builders. Lack of focus on economic growth, he says, gives the demons room to operate.
He was speaking to a packed audience in Accra at the launch of a 320-page book entitled, Africa in Search of Prosperity – Ishmael Yamson’s Essays on Development Economics, Business, Finance and Economic Growth. It was launched by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
The book was edited by Ivor Agyeman-Duah – a visiting associate professor and director of the Wole Soyinka Foundation at the University of Johannesburg and Pof. Bill Buenar Puplampu, Vice Chancellor of Central University in Accra. It has two forewords from Lynda Baroness Chalker of Wallasey and former Minister for Africa, British and the Commonwealth Office and Doug Baillie, former President of Unilever Africa.
The collection of the thirty essays is mainly on economic and business development with two other sections on education and impact on development and faith and development.
Dr. Botchwey, who recounted the challenges he faced at his time in the 1980s managing the economy that was under recovery in the period of the Structural Adjustment Programme, had to, he explained, deal with inflation which was over 100 percent, national accounting that had not been done for three years and an exchange rate crisis. He however, said the country is on track.
The current Senior Minister and former Minister of Finance and Economic Planning under the Kufuor government, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, spoke of the current economic management team led by the vice president, Dr. Mahamdu Bawumia, and said they were thinking outside the box since with a debt to GDP ratio of over 70%, it had become difficult to borrow under the agreement with the IMF.
He said lessons from the book – of which he was the launch reviewer – are apt to contemporary challenges, including the difficulty in accessing aid.
Yaw Osafo-Maafo said the book is of such public policy importance that consultation would be made with the leadership of parliament for adaptation as a manual to guide discussions in the house.

Nothing new in Kwesi Botchwey report – Kwesi Pratt

Dorcas Abedu-Kennedy — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 07:51:26 +0000

The managing Editor of the Insight newspaper says there is nothing new in the recommendations made by the 13-member Professor Kwesi Botchway Committee.

According to him, even though he has not read the entire report, the eight recommendations contained in it, is known by everybody.

Contributing to a panel discussion on Peace FM morning show ‘Kokrokoo’, Kwesi Pratt Jnr said: “this is nothing strange; everybody is aware; it’s not new. Even though I have not read the whole report, I see nothing new in the eight points given by Professor Kwesi Botchway”

Meanwhile, Kwesi Pratt feels the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will face a ‘major challenge’ of ‘breaking down’ (simplifying) the 455-page report.

“It will be difficult for the NDC to break the report down because even with those of us educated; it will be difficult for us to read 455 pages (excuse my language). How many people can read 455 page report and analyse it critically. That is one of the major challenges” he added.

The 13-member Professor Kwesi Botchwey Committee probing the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) 2016 election defeat on Monday (June 19, 2017) presented a 455-page report to the National Executive Committee of the party.

Professor Botchwey handed over the voluminous document titled “Listening To The Voice Of The Grassroots” to the national chairman of the NDC, Mr Kofi Portuphy at the party’s headquarters in Accra.

Below is the Eight recommendations contained in the Kwesi Botchwey report

1. That the party puts together a group of credible and eminent members of our party to undertake a peacebuilding and healing of the country.

2. That the party takes steps to restore the integrity of the biometric register and the expanded electoral college.

3. We recommend that steps be taken to restore the capacity and effectiveness of the party’s organs especially at the branch level where we believe these organs are the most critical because they are the party’s immediate connection to the people, we are afterall a truly mass party.

4. We also have recommendations on ways we can and must improve the collation of election results.

5. We also believe that steps ought to be taken by the party to reconnect itself properly to our social democratic roots and the principal actors in these social democratic roots.

6. We recommend that steps ought to be taken to strengthen research and intelligence in the party. This should involve crowding in a larger body of the party’s intellectual base which has not been particularly active in the past, this will help to support the party’s research capacity.

7. There are recommendations that the party will scale-up and re-invigorate its work in the area of youth organisation.

8. The organisation of women, we note that significant changes have taken place in the country’s demographic profile and that the party ought to take notice of this and all the implications of these changes.

Kwesi Botchway – Adomonline.com

Be careful of demons – Kwesi Botchwey cautions government

Nothing new in Kwesi Botchwey report – Kwesi Pratt