Economic Advisory Board: I resigned because my views were not sought – Adei

Economist and former Board Chairman for the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Prof Stephen Adei has revealed he had to resign on principle from the advisory board of the Ministry of Finance because his views on the economy were not sought.
According to him, he was appointed to the advisory board of the ministry during the administration of late president John Evans Atta-Mills.
He said since then he had been playing an advisory role for the ministry.
He added that the position was just advisory and as and when the minister deemed it appropriate “you are called to proffer a piece of advice.”
The economist and former rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) made this disclosure about his role in government while speaking in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM’s eyewitness news on Tuesday, March 21, 2023.
He explained he had to resign from the position because, for the past year, his views on the management of the economy were not sought.
“I didn’t want to be seen as ‘Simpapayin’,” he said; to wit he did not want to be seen as useless on the advisory board.
He said he did this in the interest of serving the nation.
He revealed that the only time his views were sought “was when the government was about implementing the Free SHS policy and I gladly gave it out.”
“As board chairman of GRA, I never took a dime but I worked diligently for GRA to meet its revenue targets.
''With this, many saw me as being in government when I was not in government but only working for the good of the country,” he corrected.
“Even as the chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), I prepared a document dubbed Ghana@100 and wanted the buy-in of the government. To date the government is not meeting me,” he said.
Speaking on the economic downturn in a separate interview earlier, Prof Stephen Adei had said over borrowing is one of the biggest mistakes of the Akufo-Addo government.
The former board chair of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) told journalists on the sidelines of the Signature Market Pre-launch campaign at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, that excessive borrowing has exacerbated the economic crisis.
“I think the biggest mistake they [government] made is that they borrowed beyond our capacity to service it.
"If you are a country and you borrow beyond your capacity, you will be in trouble, of course, COVID-19 came in, and the Russia-Ukraine [war, too],” he stated.
“But the reason why things got worse is because of these underlying mistakes they made and they must admit it", Prof Adei explained.
He added: "If not, they won’t be going to IMF.
"If you are a government and you go broke you re-negotiate with your debtors. I think the debt restructuring will go through”.
“We have to learn and not repeat our mistakes by going on a borrowing spree", he advised, noting: "We should become watchdogs".
"The leakages should be reduced, the level of corruption, the wastage from the government after government is high, so, we don’t get value for money,” he stated.
Source: Classfmonline.com/cecil Mensah
Trending News
Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings engages Gaming Commission staff on Mental Health Awareness
09:12Korle-Bu dialysis centre: Patients forced to seek treatment outside amid shortage of consumables
03:17ECG installs 33/11kv mobile transformer to stabilise power supply in Tse Addo
14:29Ghana's Defence Minister Congratulates Pope Leo XIV on election as Bishop of Rome
08:59Ga Traditional Council announces ban on drumming and noise-making
03:08Mahama's administration is on the right track- Bawah Mogtari hails
13:45NPP communicator admits to personal, party arrogance, expresses confidence Bawumia has remedy
02:19IMANI Africa to present findings on NDC gov't’s first 120 days in office
02:58President Mahama appoints Dr. Paa Kwesi Baidoo as new CEO of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital
13:32It was wicked for Akufo-Addo to fund opposition parties secretly to cause NPP's defeat: Atik Mohammed
18:27