Ghana is being fed praise when what it really needs is scrutiny. That was the searing verdict from Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa, in an interview on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition.

With Ghana exiting the IMF programme earlier than expected, he warned against celebrating too soon, too loudly, and with too little substance.

“We’ve turned the IMF into a blesser and an endorser of performance,” he said.

“But that’s not what the country needs. Ghana needs watchdogs, not cheerleaders.”

Bright Simons was uncompromising in his assessment of the structural limitations of the International Monetary Fund.

“It’s an intergovernmental organisation.

So it’s unrealistic to expect it to be a serious critic of government,” he noted. “How can it scrutinise the same people who sit on its board?”

He described the IMF’s role as inherently conflicted, designed more to reassure global investors than to hold governments accountable.

“The IMF has strong incentives to say the program is doing well,” Simons said. “Because they helped design it. That makes it hard for them to be too negative.”

He added that the Fund’s strategy is built around optimism.

“They have to signal to the investor community that things are looking good. That’s how they attract more money into Ghana.

"But if you’re signalling good news to investors, how can you be telling the public the truth when things aren’t going well?”

That, he said, is precisely why civil society must step up.

“There’s a gap now. Our domestic surveillance mechanism is broken. Civil society’s ability to influence the elites in Ghana, especially the business elites, is limited. But we need to fill that gap. We can’t rely on the IMF to do that for us.”

He accused Ghana’s leaders of exploiting IMF praise for political optics rather than genuine reform.

“The Minister will say, ‘The IMF says we are great.’ Kristalina [Georgieva] will come and praise the President. And then they plaster it everywhere,” he said.

“We, the citizens, have to become less willing to be taken in by such theatrics.”

Bright Simons argued that IMF programmes, while sometimes useful, are no substitute for serious local reform.

“Anyone relying entirely on IMF surveillance is not mature enough. We need stronger internal systems. More independent voices. More courageous institutions.”

He was particularly concerned that Ghana’s early IMF exit sends the wrong signal — that the job is done, when in fact, it’s barely started.

“We’re not out of the woods. But ending the programme lets government say ‘We made it!’ Meanwhile, we’re walking away from targets we’re not ready to meet.”

His message to Ghanaians? Be sceptical. Demand more.

“We shouldn’t let endorsement replace accountability. We must question. Investigate. Verify. Otherwise, it’s just performance, politics over purpose.”