Duffuor’s Saboteurs Fall Flat

The attempts to vilify the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor for allegedly having connection with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has hit a snag, as top government officials say that he has performed creditably.

Dr. Duffuor last week came under intense criticism as having surrounded himself with people closer to the erstwhile NPP administration.

Specifically, Dr. Duffuor was said to have a special advisor in the person of Dr. Kofi Asamoah-Baah, who is alleged to be an NPP fanatic.

But it has now been discovered that the position of a special advisor to the minister does not exist at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
Dr. Asamoah-Baah, according to top officials at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, was not employed by the erstwhile NPP administration.
The Enquirer gathered that he was domiciled in the United States of America and was engaged by one of Ghana’s development partners and that is United States Agency For International Development(USAID)
The paper’s multiple sources at the ministry said that there are a number of technical advisors engaged by the donor community and development partners.
The sources said that Dr. Asamoah-Baah does not even draw his salary from the Government of Ghana (GoG), but rather is paid by the development partner that engaged him.

The top officials of the ministry revealed that Dr. Asamoah-Baah was engaged by USAID as a Project and Financial Analyst.

Apart from that, he performs another duty, namely Technical and Financial Due Diligence, for the ministry.

In addition to that, Dr. Asamoah-Baah plays a vital role in Aid and Debt Management for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
According to the officials, Dr. Duffuor has been able to bring personnel engaged by the donor community and development partners on board to help the ministry to succeed.
“The minister and the other two deputies are really working with all and sundry within the ministry and that has shown in the recent economic improvement,” the officials said.
The officials told The Enquirer that the ministers have managed to develop good relations with all manner of personnel at both the junior and senior levels and that they were working as a team.
On the allegation that Dr. Asamoah-Baah churned out some figures to The Corporate Guardian in 2008, that were favorable to the NPP government, the officials said that could not have been his machination.
They said that he could not have those concocted figures because of the position he occupied at the ministry at the time the NPP was in power.
The officials said that the NPP was noted for conjuring figures and that could have been one of their usual tricks.
The officials reminded those behind the attacks on the minister to desist from such sinister moves to enable the minister and his team to focus on the ‘Better Ghana’ agenda.
“We have a task ahead by virtue of the kind of legacy we inherited from the NPP and there is therefore the need for all of us to get focused,” they said.