Known broadcaster Captain Smart, also known as Blessed Godsbrain Smart, asserts that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his Cabinet have already decided to apply for an IMF bailout.
He asserts that Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, whom he describes as Ghana’s shadow prime minister, recently made certain remarks to ascertain the public’s response to the nation’s IMF programme and to mentally prepare Ghanaians for it.
“I warned you that between January and June, the government will apply for a rescue from the IMF… They already visited the IMF.
Gabby, we are not children, your uncle (President Akufo-Addo) said you should come and test the waters, he added in Twi. “Gabby stated he is not against an IMF programme in principle,” he continued.
Speaking on his Maakye show on Onua TV, the journalist further claimed that because Gabby is Ghana’s shadow prime minister, the government shares his views on the Electronic Transfer Level (E-Levyinability )’s to meet its goal and the need for borrowing to pay public sector employees.
He continued by saying that the government’s decision to turn to the IMF for financial assistance is a vindication of former President John Dramani Mahama.
He revealed how the ex-president was criticized by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his appointees when he entered an IMF program.
In a series of tweets, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a pillar of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), expressed his principled support for Ghana turning to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance.
He claimed that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine crisis served as reason for Ghana’s request for a bailout from the IMF.
“I am not for an IMF program that throws peanuts at us but imposes conditions that will end up hurting the poor, jobs and businesses more. Covid-19 and War in Ukraine are not of Africa’s doing but more to our doom. A program that pretends it is all our doing is doomed to fail.
“Am I against an IMF program in principle? No,” the tweets he shared on June 27, 2022, read.
He added that the government might soon borrow money in order to pay employees in the public sector.