Barely 24-hours after the minority in parliament held a press conference to paint a gloomy picture about the Ghanaian economy, Head of the Economic Management Team and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has set a date to give detailed account of the country’s economy.
Dr. Bawumia who has been on the chopping board of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) following the depreciation of the cedi which is currently doing wonders against other major international currencies including the dollar, is expected to answer questions on the state of Ghana’s economy at the town hall meeting scheduled for April 3, 2019 at the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons in Accra .
It has been christened “our progress, our status, our future” aimed at demolishing the propaganda of the minority about the true state of the Ghanaian economy geared towards the President’s vision of Ghana beyond aide.
Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has however dropped a hint that town hall meeting of the Vice President, kick starts similar ones to be held across the country.
“… The Ministry of Information is just about rolling out the 2019 Town Hall Meetings and it starts on the 29th of March 2019 with a maiden town hall meeting in Kasoa at the Datus School Park,” Mr Oppong Nkrumah said.
“The town hall meetings are designed to bring government closer to the people and shall, therefore, see state actors such as Ministers of state, MMDCEs and head of agencies give an account to the people who will also have an opportunity to ask questions and make contributions towards the governance of our country.”
In all, we expect to have 24 town hall meetings this year 2019. The town hall meetings represent a major shift in government’s policy to make information easily accessible and usable to the public here in Ghana and in the diaspora as well”.
This also comes at a time the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the seventh and eight reviews under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) supported arrangement of Ghana.
The IMF has observed that this will make available to Ghana the cumulative amount of SDR132.84 million (about US$185.2 million).
“The Fund congratulates the authorities for successfully completing the ECF supported program and stands ready to support Ghana in its quest for economic prosperity.”, a statement on the IMF website revealed.