I've only 2 relatives in my govt, 'magician' Ofori-Atta 'amazingly capable' – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Akufo-Addo has said he has only two family members in his government, thus, ricocheted accusations by the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that he has 51 relatives in his “family-and-friends” government.

“I’m not presiding over a government of family-and-friends”, the President rebuffed at the Jubilee House on Friday, 13 December 2019 when he engaged journalists, explaining: “Yes, only two members of my family in the names Ofori-Atta, who is the Minister of Finance, is my cousin. He happened also, at the time, to have been the person who was responsible for the NPP’s fundraising drive; nobody made any criticism of him when he was in that position and I don’t think it’s so difficult for somebody who has been the fundraiser to transition into the Finance Minister”.

“Apart from everything else”, the President noted: “As far as I’m concerned, he is amazingly capable; he’s been like a magician”.

The co-founder of investment bank Databank, the President added, has, “with regard to where we were, been able to find a way to raise money for us to do many of the things that we have been able to do; he’s been a real break and I’m very very satisfied about the work that he’s doing and he’s not there because he’s my cousin, he’s there because he’s a very capable man: the first investment banker in our country, built a very successful business and he’s extremely, highly regarded in the world of finance and the investment community here in Ghana and across the world”.

“I think he’s doing a yeoman’s job for this country, so, I don’t have any difficulty about that”, the President added.

He also denied ever being corrupt. “I’m certainly not corrupt, I continue to say that I’m not corrupt, I’ve not been corrupt; I’ve not taken money from anybody to give anybody contracts”.