Bernard Mornah, a leading Convenor of Arise Ghana, has claimed that former President Akufo-Addo has regretted that Ken Ofori-Atta misled him wth the domestic debt exchange program (DDEP).
Mr Mornah accused embattled Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta of causing a lot of economic miscarriage in Ghana.
According to Bernard Mornah, Ghanaians have died out of Ken Ofori-Atta’s harsh economic policies.
Speaking during the Arise Ghana protest at the United States Embassy in Accra on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, Bernard Mornah stated, “Ken Ofori-Atta has caused a lot of economic miscarriage to our nation. He has devastated many people. People have died out of the harsh economic policies that he has brought”.
“President Akufo-Addo, on hindsight, has regretted that Ken Ofori-Atta misled him to go and bring what we call the domestic debt exchange. Ken Ofori-Atta lied to all of us that he was not going to go to the IMF if the electronic transfer levy bill was passed into an act. Soon after that bill was passed, Ken Ofori-Atta and the former president of Ghana speedily ran to the IMF.”
“That is economic in-service to the people of Ghana. Within Ken Ofori-Atta’s regime, we have seen that state resources were used for their personal gain, including taking COVID-19 resources and giving it to Enterprise Insurance and other companies that belong to them, without accounting for anything or without any beneficiary,” he added.
Bernard Mornah added, “The Office of the Special Prosecutor has listed about 78 charges against Ken Ofori-Atta. The Economic and Organised Crime Office has listed its own charges and above all, the National Investigation Bureau has also got its own charges against Ken Ofori-Atta.
“What it means is that multiple institutions have identified the impropriety of Ken Ofori-Atta’s office, and they are asking him to come to Ghana so that we can take him through a due process,” he lamented.
“And Ken continues in the United States to say that he is avoiding justice, and we want to indicate that the US, through the ambassador in Ghana, must ensure that Ken is returned to the princes of Ghana so that he can face justice, and the people of Ghana can judge for ourselves whether what he did is right or wrong.”
Meanwhile, former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo admitted that Ghana’s debt restructuring under his government shattered lives.
Akufo-Addo revealed that the debt restructuring deeply troubled him and still does.
According to Akufo-Addo, the debt restructuring under the G20 Common Framework was the most painful chapter of his presidency.
Akufo-Addo noted that the programme offered short-term economic relief but came at a heavy social and human cost.
Speaking at the AU-EU High-Level Seminar in Brussels on Thursday, October 2, 2025, on the eve of the AU-EU Summit, Akufo-Addo stated, “I witnessed the suffocating grip of debt on our economy and on our citizens. This deeply troubled me and still does”.
“The most painful part was the impact on ordinary people. Pensioners, young people, and small investors saw their lives and livelihoods shattered,” he said.
Ghana, under Akufo-Addo in 2023, restructured $13 billion in Eurobonds and secured commitments that provided $10.5 billion in external debt service relief through 2026.
The debt restructuring reduced the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio from the mid-80s to 70.5 per cent and also boosted investor confidence and supported an IMF programme.
Meanwhile, Dr Asah Asante, a Political scientist, has slammed former President Akufo-Addo over his recent apology to Ghanaians regarding the pain caused by his government’s domestic debt restructuring programme.
According to Dr Asah Asante, Akufo-Addo’s apology is too late after he shattered the lives of Ghanaians.
He highlighted that the domestic debt restructuring programme disrupted the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Ghanaians, particularly the middle class, pensioners, and other vulnerable groups.