Brief History of Seth Emmanuel Terkper Ghana’s Former Minister For Finance

“Which hands do we currently need to change Ghana’s economic narrative and predicament,” is the kind of question boggling the minds of many Ghanaians as we speak now. “Kurom aye hye” is the song many ordinary citizens are singing across the length and breadth of this country. And on a more serious note, some even eat one hot meal per day, in the ratio 0:0:1 or 0:1:0. The dwindling economy is also hitting a lot of Ghanaian companies, leading to their collapse and closure.

The hardship is so real and hurting in such a way that prices or goods and services keep skyrocketing every hour, or even minutes. And since there’s no clear cut law on how traders should price their goods and services, everyone stakes it in their own way, with some reaping over 300% profit.

All the economic indicators are clear and they show that things are getting worse every day and night. It is basically telling us that they hands that currently in operation are not doing enough to change the narrative or they are perhaps clueless about what is happening. Hence, they cannot do anything about it. 

Going forward, I believe we need more fresh hands, or more experienced hands to tackle Ghana’s economic challenges. Although partisan politics is denying some economic intellectuals, the opportunity to showcase their intellects and potentials, this is the time we must look beyond that lens and save mother Ghana from this mess!

One of these experienced personalities is Seth Emmanuel Terkper.

The Value Added Tax (VAT) hero is a holder of Bachelor of Commerce, Chartered Accountancy and MPA from the University of Cape Coast, The Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) and Kennedy School, Harvard University. 

Terkper played a very critical consultancy roles to the African Development Bank (AfDB), United Nations Committee of Tax Experts, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) and Harvard International Tax Program (ITP). He further chaired Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (GIFMIS) Reforms and the Steering Committee of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). 

Previously, he served as a Senior Economist in the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund. 

This man we are talking about served as Ghana’s 17th Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (from 2013 to 2017), under the leadership of John Dramani Mahama. Prior to that, he served as the ministry’s deputy.

Moreover, his book on VAT cannot be overemphasized.

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