The replacement of the Finance Minister at this crucial time could present problems, this is according to John Foster Agyaho, a statistician at the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).

Mr Agyaho stated that although the Ghanaians are discontent with Ken Ofori-Atta’s performance, they should be realistic, and weigh the ‘what-ifs’ should the Minister be replaced.

He asserted that his opinion does not mean that he is in favour of the embattled Minister’s stay in office.

According to him, since Mr Ofori-Atta has served in government before and throughout the global crises [COVID-19 pandemic, Russo-Ukrainian war], he would be the most qualified candidate to handle the economy.

“For me, the fear of the unknown is why I’ll say that we should tread cautiously. Because we have seen his performance; we’ve seen it and we have all this against him. But probably, he may even be better than the one that is coming. I am not by this saying he is the one I want, probably the one who will come will be worse,” he said on the JoyNews’ AM Show.

Mr Agyaho urged Ghanaians to be mindful that the global crises have had adverse implications on both developing and developed nations.

“We should understand the dynamics. It’s not only Ghana. We have global challenges. Even the best countries, [the Western world] are suffering,” he said.

Adding on, he stated that since the Finance Minister is familiar with the current issues, he probably might have measures put in place to combat the challenges.

Hence, pushing out the incumbent Finance Minister and bringing in a new person who is unfamiliar with the dynamics already in place, could distort rather than stabilise the economy.

“For six years, he’s [Finance Minister] been through it, Covid, he’s seen it. Probably there are some plans that he has put in there with his team.

“And so if you say things are hard now, so quickly let’s get him out, and then somebody comes in, he doesn’t really know where we’ve come from and all the dynamics, that can be problematic,” he told the host, Benjamin Akakpo.