No “Kenkey Party” Over IMF Programme Yet – Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has stated that his administration will not organise celebratory “kenkey and waakye parties” over Ghana’s eventual exit from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

According to him, the country’s economic recovery process is still ongoing.

Speaking during a citizens’ engagement at Ndewura Jakpa Senior High School in the Savannah Region,  President Mahama took a subtle swipe at the previous administration led by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, saying his government inherited an IMF-supported programme that was already facing major setbacks when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) assumed office in January 2025.

According to the President, most of the key performance indicators agreed under the IMF programme had gone off track by the time his administration took over, placing the programme at risk of collapse and forcing the government to introduce strict corrective measures to restore stability and confidence.

“We inherited the IMF programme from the previous government. At the time we took over, all the agreed performance indicators were out of track, which meant that the programme was in danger of derailment, so we had to take some stringent actions to bring it back into alignment and we were able to do that,” he stated.

President Mahama explained that after the implementation of the corrective measures, subsequent IMF review missions acknowledged the progress made by the government in stabilising the programme and restoring fiscal discipline.

He noted that the latest IMF mission, which concluded its work in Ghana last week, expressed satisfaction with the government’s performance and is expected to submit its recommendations to the IMF Executive Board for approval of the next tranche of financial support.

“The missions that came approved the programme and the final mission just left Ghana last week and they have given us a satisfying mark and it is now going to the board to release the last tranche of 380 million dollars to support our economy, but we are not going to have a kenkey party because it is still work in progress,” the President added.

The IMF programme was introduced to support Ghana’s economic recovery efforts amid rising debt levels, inflation, and fiscal challenges. Government officials say maintaining discipline under the programme remains essential to ensuring long-term economic stability and restoring investor confidence.