Renowned economist and statesman Kwame Pianim has insisted that the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, must, one way or the other, leave office now. His call comes after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo urged Members of Parliament of his party, the NPP, to hold on with their demand for Ofori-Atta to be sacked over the economic difficulties in the country till the International Monetary Fund bailout negotiation he is leading is completed. But according to Kwame Pianim, replacing Ofori-Atta is very critical to turning around the economy to get Ghanaians out of the current difficulties. The senior statesman, who made these remarks in a TV3 interview monitored by GhanaWeb, outlined the following reasons as the justification for Ofori-Atta to leave office now. Success of the IMF negotiation: According to Kwame Pianim, the government's current negotiation with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout is not going well because the Fund does not see any seriousness on the side of the government. "What the IMF is waiting for is a bold, credible pronouncement from the president as he did over the COVID-19 (pandemic). And then you need a credible messenger. Ken Ofori-Atta is not a credible messenger. "Somebody who didn't want you taking this route, how can you say he should lead it?" he questioned Save Ghanaians from additional misery The economist intimated that Ofori-Atta's mismanagement of Ghana's economy is the cause of the hardship in the country and, therefore, he should step down. "The hardship on Ghanaians is unprecedented. So, he Ofori-Atta should save Ghanaians additional misery by stepping down." Save the reputation of the NPP Again, Kwame Pianim said that Ofori-Atta had to go to save the New Patriotic Party's reputation as good managers of Ghana's economy. "NPP has a reasonably good reputation as a good manager of the Ghanaian Economy. And it is time that (the current economic meltdown) is stopped so that irreparable damage is not done to the reputation of the NPP as good managers of the economy," he said. Save the legacy of Akufo-Addo Also, the statesman intimated that Ofori-Atta staying in office would make it very difficult to restore Ghana's economy and also risks destroying the legacies of President Akufo-Addo. "If he (Ofori-Atta) does not go and the president doesn't let him go, we risk irreversibly dragging the president's legacy and his presidency into the gutters," he said. Watch the interview the video below: Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown below: IB/SEA