Prophet Kofi Oduro, the founder of Alabaster International Ministries, has attributed the current economic challenges in the country to President Nana Akufo-Addo. During a sermon on September 3, Prophet Kofi Oduro asserted that President Akufo-Addo would be remembered as the worst leader of the Fourth Republic due to these economic issues.
During the sermon, Prophet Kofi Oduro expressed his concerns and highlighted the hardships Ghana has faced since President Akufo-Addo took office on January 7, 2017. He emphasized that the nation’s economic difficulties require divine intervention and that the president alone cannot solve them.
“I want to tell my president that your expertise cannot fix this problem. From now until December 7, Your Excellency, you will go down in history as the worst president in the Fourth Republic. It has been six and a half years of pain and agony, six and a half years of bleeding and bloodshed. We need help,” he stated.
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Since 2021, Ghana has been grappling with a severe financial crisis, which the government attributes to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. As a result, the year-on-year inflation rate reached a record high of 54.1% in January 2023, with food prices surging by 59.7% and transportation costs rising by 71.4%. The government initiated a domestic debt exchange program as part of its $3 billion International Monetary Fund bailout program, which it entered to address the issue.
On May 19, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced that the first installment of a $3 billion, three-year extended lending facility had been received, amounting to $600 million. This $3 billion rescue loan, approved by the executive board of the International Monetary Fund, raised hopes that Ghana could recover from its most severe economic crisis in decades. Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta stated that the funds would be used to stabilize the budget and curb inflation.
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However, in May 2023, Prophet Oduro cautioned government officials against misusing the funds, suggesting that he had doubts about whether the money would be allocated for its intended purpose.
Furthermore, Prophet Oduro pointed out that the adoption of the three-year repayment plan by the IMF reflects a lack of full confidence in the government’s ability to use the borrowed funds wisely.
