You need free education on English language – Sammy Gyamfi fires Ofori-Atta over ‘turn the corner’ claim

The criticism of the Finance Minister over his proclamation that the government has turned the corner in its management of the Ghanaian economy, does not seem to be ending anytime soon.

The latest to add to his woes is the National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Sammy Gyamfi.

According to him, the minister does not have a proper understanding of the English language and that if he did, he would not have made such a statement.

Mr Gyamfi, speaking on Metro TV on Thursday, August 3, said Ken Ofori-Atta does not respect the sensibilities of Ghanaians for which reason he made such a statement.

“With these figures you the (Finance Minister) presented yourself and you’re saying you’ve turned a corner, you need free education on the phrase turned the corner or you don’t respect the sensibilities of Ghanaians or you want to insult the sensibilities of Ghanaians.”

“With his own figures, it means that this year 2023 we are not going to see any improvement in GDP growth rate, and that means employment will suffer, incomes will suffer and Ghanaians will suffer more,” he said.

But the New Patriotic Party’s Communications Director, Richard Ahiagbah also on the same show insisted the government has indeed turned the corner and is on the right path to reviving the economy.

According to him, the NDC is deliberately failing to accept the reality, thereby attempting to deceive Ghanaians.

“I want to say that indeed we have turned the corner and the reasons for which I say this is the history of this government since 2017 to date, our record has been very clear.”

“The economy that we inherited was in decline and was in free fall. But in the first year in office, we turned things around and started growing. We did so again in 2018, we did so again in 2019, and then something changed.

“What changed was the Covid-19 outbreak which was the departure the NDC does not want to accept and when they do, they say it did not happen to Ghana alone. And when we started to find our feet again, then the Russia Ukraine war began,” he also said.

What did the Finance Minister say?

While addressing Parliament during the Mid-Year Budget Review on Monday, July 31, 2023, Mr Ofori-Atta highlighted the significant progress his government has made in Ghana’s economy since the decision to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout.

He told the House that “we have turned the corner and, more importantly, we are determined to continue down that path.”

What does the phrase turned the corner mean?

The phrase turned the means “pass the critical point and start to improve.”

Synonyms on are 1. Improve 2. Get better 3. Pick up.