Economist advocates for repeal of EMT as sub-committee to Cabinet; renamed as Economic Advisory Council
Economist and Political Risk Analyst, Dr Theo Acheampong, is advocating for the repeal of the Economic Management Team (EMT) as a sub-committee under the Cabinet headed by the President, Nana Akufo-Addo.
The call for the repeal of the EMT by Dr Theo Acheampong, is in view of the fact that the EMT has no ‘power’ to enforce recommendations it makes to Cabinet.
The acceptance and subsequent implementation of recommendations made by the EMT Dr Acheampong notes, is the prerogative of Cabinet.
“The EMT is a toothless bulldog, it can only advise, it can’t do anything apart from that. The real decisions are taken by Cabinet and subsequently implied by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).”
“But that doesn’t mean we don’t need it, we still need it but as a sub-committee to the Cabinet,” he noted speaking during the NorvanReports and Economic Governance Platform X Space Discussion on the topic, “Should Ghana have an Economic Management Team or an Economic Advisory Council?”.
In his view, the EMT should be renamed to an Economic Advisory Council (EAC) with the constitutional mandate to enforce economic recommendations it makes to Cabinet given that the current EMT structure has no constitutional mandate.
“In view of the current economic issues and for our economic advancement, we must have an Economic Advisory Council that can bite, that has power and constitutional mandate to not only advise Cabinet but also enforce the recommendations it makes,” he quipped.
“The Economic Advisory Council must also have wide membership, members of the Council must not necessarily be Ghanaians, they can be non-Ghanaians. The most important thing is that the members truly understand the economic issues confronting the country and have the technical ability to proffer practical solutions to them (sic),” he added.
Very good suggestion by Dr.
However, I think EMT recommendations are discussed at cabinet so why must it be difficult for cabinet to adopt the recommendations.
Would the Council be more powerful than the President and Cabinet in terms of decision making?
I don’t understand why we need to include other persons who don’t hold allegiance to Ghana to take decisions that would bind the nation.
I think EMT should remain as it is. we should add more knowledgeable people to the team. The team should be independent in character and their recommendations should be subject to Cabinet where the ultimate responsibility of the management of the country rest.
finally, please let empower the National Development Planning Commission
my view.
The EMT should continue to play the Role it is having now. What is relevant is for it to have A Technical Sub-Committee which should be made up of Qualified Experts knowledgeable on all aspects of the National Economy as well as External Factors that need Consideration in their areas of Responsibility. I believe concrete decisions from them will sail through Cabinet if the decisions are well grounded.