Ghana is broke, and that puts our democracy in jeopardy, according to Prof. Atuguba.
Professor Raymond Atuguba, Dean of the University of Ghana’s Law Faculty, has warned that the economy is on the verge of a crisis unless drastic measures are taken promptly to save it.
He remarked that Ghana’s current financial position is a threat to its democracy during a public speech on a review of the 1992 Constitution and its impact on the economy.
Studies have shown that an ailing economy aids all successful coups d’états in the sub-region, he said.
“A big part of why certain coups succeed and others fail is the economy. What is the state of Ghana’s economy today?
“At the level of the most irreducible idiomaticity, Ghana is broke. Your nation is radically broke. So broke, the Speaker of Parliament has publicly warned, gavel in hand, that we may not be able to pay the salaries of public sector workers in the next three months,” the academic said.
Passing the contentious Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy) Bill is one of the specific moves he sees as necessary to avoid a coup and the collapse of the economy.
Despite using bad words to criticize the tax scheme, he stated that the revenue collected from this taxes would be the country’s rescuer.
“We need to pass the damn ‘farah f*#king’ s&c] E-levy Bill immediately and implement it effectively.
“However, to prevent the collapse of the economy and a return to the stranglehold of the IFIs [International Financial Institutions], we have no choice but to pass it,” he emphasized.
An international financial institution (IFI) is a financial institution that has been founded (or chartered) by many countries and is thus governed by international law.
National governments are the majority of its owners, or shareholders, however other international institutions and organizations occasionally appear as shareholders.
The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the International Finance Corporation are among them. Today, the largest IFI in the world is the European Investment Bank, which financed 61 billion euros to global projects in 2011.
Prof. Atuguba, on the other hand, warned the government against “lying” to the citizenry.
He said the Akufo-Addo administration needed to “fess up and admit that they believed managing the economy was straightforward.”
“Ghanaians are clever and kind people who will gladly support the E-levy if it is done correctly,” he continued.
Conversely, John Kumah, the Deputy Finance Minister of Ghana, has dismissed suggestions that the government may be unable to pay public sector employees in the forthcoming three months.