Would Ken Ofori Atta break the jinx?

Ghana has had a turbulent history, with the coup d’état being an important part of it. Even during the military dictatorship, finance ministers were appointed to run the economy of our dear country.

Whether during the military regimes or the elected governments of the various during our various truncations, Ghana has had very distinguished men who have fulfilled their functions and served as ministers of finance for our dear homeland.

But, in our so far stable Fourth Republic, no finance minister has had a second term in government, either during an NDC or NPP administration.

The reason for this can be discussed in another article, but that is not the subject of this article.

Our fourth republic was inaugurated by Flt. Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings in 1992 when he had the opportunity to reign from 1982 to 2001.

During his tenure he appointed Dr Kwasi Botchwey and he served in Mr Rawlings’ first term from 1992 to 1995 as Prime Minister of Finance of Ghana in the Fourth Republic.

Before leaving office in 1995, Dr Botchwey had held this post from 1982 to 1995. Thus, thirteen years of service as Minister of Finance, but could not enjoy under the same chairmanship of Mr Rawlings a second term under a constitutional government.

He was replaced by Richard Kwame Peprah who served in the same portfolio from 1995 to 2001.

Mr Rawlings’ government ended after successfully serving his two terms as democratically elected president, but not his finance minister.

President Kuffuor took the reins of government from 2001 to 2009 after a hotly contested election in 2000. During his first term, Venerable Yaw Osafo Marfo was appointed Minister of Finance between 2001 and 2005.

Indeed, during his tenure as Minister of Finance, Ghana opted for the HIPIC program and he succeeded in sustaining the country. These and other accomplishments made Osafo-Marfo one of Ghana’s top finance ministers in our Fourth Republic, but he was not reappointed by President Kuffuor even though he and the NPP won a candidacy for re-election.

He was also replaced by the late Kwadwo Baah Wiredu who served from 2005 until his untimely death in 2008 in September of the same year.

The NPP government lost the 2008 elections and an NDC administration was brought into power in January 2009.

President Mills appointed Dr Kwabena Duffuor who served as Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2012, when President Mills’ government ended.

Prior to his appointment as Minister of Finance, Mr. Duffuor had served as Governor of the Central Bank of Ghana. He was named one of the top four central bank governors in the world at an IMF / World Bank meeting in 1999.

With all these accolades when John Dramani Mahama became president in January 2013, even though he belonged to the same NDC title, he never reappointed Dr Duffuor but rather Mr Seth Terpke. He served Ghana from 2013 to 2017.

The NDC lost the 2016 election and the NPP party led by Nana Addo-Danquah Akufo-Addo won.

President Akufo-Addo appointed Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta as Ghana’s finance minister, who served from 2017 to 2021.

The NPP and Nana Akufo-Addo were re-elected for four years, even though they were challenged in the Supreme Court by former President Mahama, but the big question is: will Ken Ofori-Atta be able to break the cycle finance ministers? who serve only one mandate?

He has run the affairs of the ministry with some distinction and weathered the turbulent times of economic management of Covid-19. But, will he get a second cherry bite?

Time will certainly tell.