Former President John Dramani Mahama has said the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, was instrumental in the country securing an Extended Credit Facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2016 to strengthen the economy.
Receiving the Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin at his office in Accra on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, he said when his government faced crisis with the economy in 2013/2014, Otumfuo was at hand to rescue the situation.
Home Grown Fiscal Programme
Giving details, President Mahama said: “We had implemented the single spine salary policy from President Mills’ time, and somewhere in 2013 the arrears were kicking in. So we overshot in terms of revenue, which became a burden on the budget. Wages and salaries shot up astronomically so we did the Senchi forum, and after that we came out with the Home-Grown Fiscal Consolidation Programme.
“We tried to implement it, but international investors thought that without discipline we could not do that. We tried to convince them but they would not budge,” he stated.
Enter IMF
He continued that government therefore decided that to get the needed credibility, it was necessary to get the IMF to buy into implementation of the home-grown fiscal programme.
However, Former President Mahama indicated that when his administration wanted to talk to the IMF they kept delaying.
President Mahama said one day during a visit to Kumasi, he called on Otumfuo Osei Tutu to enquire from him whether he could get his friend, President of the World Bank Mr. James D. Wolfensohn, to work on the IMF programme for government – and the Asantehene readily accepted the request.
“Because of that programme, he (Otumfuo) flew to Washington to have talks with Mr. Wolfensohn, who together with Otumfuo went and spoke with the IMF Director, Madam Christine Lagarde. And within a short period of time we had the Extended Credit Facility.
“That was the programme which turned the economy around, because under that programme, in 2016, almost for the first time in our history we did not overspend the budget,” Mr. Mahama said.
Personal Relationship
President Mahama said he had a personal relationship with Otumfuo dating back to the days when the king was a student at the Sefwi Wiawso Secondary School.
“Certainly, if anybody is to be celebrated in this country, you can’t go past Otumfuo. He has been a part of consolidating our democracy since the time of President Rawlings,” he said.
He added: “Otumfuo gives good counsel at all times, especially during times of crisis,” he said, as Presidents Kufour, Mills and himself used to drop by at the Manhyia Palace whenever they visited Kumasi.
Dagbon Conflict
Emphasising that he could go ahead to say many good things about Otumfuo, the former president said on the Dagbon conflict he was the prime mover in terms of settling the crisis.
And that also hinged on the historical link between the Asante Kingdom and the Dagbon, as well as Dagbon and the Gonja and Mamprusi.
“So, we are proud of him and we are happy that this coin had been issued,” former President Mahama said.
Heritage
In his briefing, the General Manager of the E ON 3 Group, Mr. Jesse Agyepong, said it was appropriate that Mr. Mahama was presented with the gold coin, since he played a part in the resolution of the Dabgon conflict while president.
He said the gold coin was a life-long project that will build on the country’s cultural heritage.
Delegation
The delegation to the former president’s office was led by the Executive Chairman of the E ON 3 Group, Mr. Richard Adjei Mensah Ofori Atta. The other members were Mr Paul Asimenu, Legal Advisor of Gold Coast Refinery; Mrs. Yvonne Antonio, Head of Retail Banking for Access Bank; Mr. Festus Ofosu-Yeboah, Business Head-Adjiringanor Branch for Access Bank: Magmay Mefful, Strategy-Retail Banking for Access Bank; and Mr. Seth Sorgah, Head of Sales and Distribution-Coronation Insurance.