Felix Kwakye Ofosu, spokesperson for President John Dramani Mahama and Minister of State for Government Communications, has dismissed claims by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the current government was able to service debt payments due to financial buffers left by the previous administration.
Former Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam had asserted that the NPP government strategically built buffers in Ghana’s Debt Reserves Accounts to ensure the continued servicing of the country’s debt obligations. His remarks followed President John Dramani Mahama’s directive to Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson to honor the fourth coupon payment to Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) bondholders.
Dr. Amin Adam emphasized that while the current administration is taking credit for the payment, the previous NPP government had already put in place financial mechanisms to support these obligations.
At a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, February 19, Kwakye Ofosu categorically rejected this narrative, providing details to counter the claims.
“Following the announcement of these payments and the reactivation of the sinking fund, NPP officials have claimed that we were only able to do so because of buffers they left behind, and not due to any specific intervention from President John Mahama. I wish to place on record that this narrative is untrue,” he stated.
He explained that the sinking fund, officially known as the debt service reserve account, is used to hold money for pending payments to bondholders and creditors. This account includes both cedi and dollar components, and transaction records can confirm financial activities over time.
Kwakye Ofosu challenged the NPP to provide concrete evidence of the buffers they claimed to have left.
“For officials of the former government to assert that these payments were made possible due to their past efforts, they must specifically identify where those buffers were located,” he argued.
He noted that the last recorded movement in the account under the NPP was on October 22, 2024, with a balance of just $64,387—an amount insufficient to cover payments in the range of GHS6 billion.
In contrast, on January 31, 2025, the NDC government, under Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, deposited $96,915,182 into the account.
“If you examine the cedi-denominated reserve account, you will find that when the NDC assumed office on January 7, 2025, the last transaction recorded before the NPP left was on January 2, 2025, with a balance of GHS155,463,435,” Kwakye Ofosu added.
He further revealed that an additional GHS9 billion is currently available in the fund to cover maturing coupons in July and August, bringing the total to GHS15 billion.
