The General Secretary of the Ghana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), Edward Kareweh, has said that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is not the solution to Ghana’s economic woes.
According to him, the Fund should be bold enough to say no to Ghana when economic managers mess up and call on them for assistance.
Using a doctor-patient analogy, the Secretary for GAWU explained that a doctor should stop treating a patient for the same ailment after the patient has visited them for 16 times and recommend the patient to a different expert.
“IMF should also be honest enough to say Ghana I am sorry you have come to us over and over many times, we came we helped you [but] when we left you mismanaged again. Therefore, this time we are not ready to come to you; we won’t support you…”, Mr. Kareweh said.
He however, indicated that the Fund would be rendered useless “because IMF will not have any use. They will not have work to do so they have to accept countries like Ghana which have gone there many times but it has not helped.”
He made the following remarks in his preliminary submissions during an ‘Imani-GIZ Reform Dialogue’ on the topic: “How will Ghana’s IMF deal impact investment in agric and manufacturing sector?”
Edward Kareweh couldn’t fathom why the country has not harnessed the ideas of top professionals in the country to find lasting remedies to its challenges but keeps running to the Fund despite 16 failures.
Responding to a comment from Prof. Bopkin, he intimated that IMF cannot be so much born again that they can abandon their fundamental reasons why they exist.
Speaking on the impact of Ghana’s IMF bail out on agric sector, Edward Kareweh questioned what actions the Fund would take when government fails to implement policies that would boost the sector.
He cited some cut backs that government has made which he believes inhibits the growth of agriculture and asked if the Fund would be bold enough to compel government to reverse its decisions.
The question I want to put forward is this: “what will IMF do when government decides to de-invest in agriculture. When you take this year for instance and that is in relation to the Planting for Food and Jobs, last year government subsidy was 36% on fertilizer and seed. This year, government decided to cut down to 15%; what will IMF do… can IMF force government to go back and increase the subsidy to 36% or more?”
“What will IMF do when government refuses to fix the roads to the farm gates… where the food is produced and where the food will come from, the roads to that place are deplorable, what will IMF do… can IMF force government to build those roads?”, he quizzed again.
Mr. Kareweh declared that going to the IMF is dangerous to the economic health of the country noting that “Ghana will have no peace until it stops [its visit to the IMF]”
On the labour front, he mentioned that the number of workers layed off between 1983 and 1990 on the advise of the IMF can never be gotten back.
Mr. Kareweh declared that going to the IMF is dangerous to the economic health of the country noting that “Ghana will have no peace until it stops [its visit to the IMF]”
