Civil society groups are pushing to be party of the current negotiations between Ghana and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Civil Society Platform on the IMF bailout, launched on Wednesday, expressed concerns that “the current negotiations are going on without any prior conversation with the people of Ghana, represented by civil society and other non-state actors.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) after its first round of discussions on a possible programme for Ghana has announced some targeted key areas to bring the country’s economy back on track.
[contextly_sidebar id=”SIEvgqNBCFK8caK6YiSDI7kOv4JvqLn0″]The platform has been formed to advocate for the views of citizens to be taken into account in this important agreement with the Fund so that Ghanaians will buy into the agreement and work towards a successful execution of the programme.
According to the Chairman of the group, Joseph Winful, “not even our representatives in Parliament have been consulted prior to the negotiations to share with the government and the negotiators, their views on the key issues to be negotiated.”
Despite the concerns of the Platform, President John Mahama has told government’s team negotiating with the IMF to ensure they do not accept a programme that will bring untold hardships onto Ghanaians.
The Civil Society Platform on the IMF bailout argued that the success of the programme will be influenced by the extent to which the citizens of Ghana buy into the programme.
“A transparent process and the ability for Civil Society and Non- State Actors to contribute to the negotiations will facilitate the process to sell the programme to Ghanaians,” the group argued.
The Civil Society also said civil society in the country should help to monitor the implementation of the IMF agreement that will be signed by the government.
The Platform will therefore put in place a monitoring mechanism to oversee the implementation.
Officials from the IMF are expected back in Ghana in November to begin the third round of talks for a bailout programme.
On October 9, the team leading Ghana’s negotiations with the IMF traveled to Washington in the United States to begin the second round of negotiations over an economic bailout programme.
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By: Nana Boakye-Yiadom/citifmonline.com/Ghana