Leading member of the New Patriotic Party, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has expressed what can be described as his frustration over the sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng as UK finance minister.
The Ghanaian-born British Finance Minister, Kwasi Kwarteng was on Friday, October 14, relieved from his post by the British Prime Minister, Liz Truss.
The BBC confirming the news said the decision was taken following fallouts from the mini-budget which sparked financial turmoil in the markets and caused a revolt among Conservative MPs in the UK.
Reacting to the news, Gabby Otchere-Darko took to his Twitter and wrote; ‘The politics of scapegoatism’ to suggest that Kwasi Kwarteng despite being in office for only six weeks suffered the ill consequences of being a political scapegoat.
Kwasi Kwarteng was recently appointed to serve as Chancellor of the Exchequer, United Kingdom where he served for six weeks.
His appointment came at a crucial time when the country is facing a high cost of living, and public sector layoffs, among others.
Kwasi Kwarteng after his appointment became the first black person to hold the position.
See Gabby Otchere-Darko’s tweet below:
The politics of scapegoatism.
— Gabby Otchere-Darko (@GabbyDarko) October 14, 2022
British Prime Minister to announce tax cuts:
Meanwhile, it is expected that Prime Minister, Truss will hold a news conference in due course, as speculation builds that the government could reverse more of the tax cuts announced in its mini-budget.
Earlier, a No 10 Downing source told the BBC that Truss thought the chancellor was “doing an excellent job”
The PM faces growing calls from within her party to rethink her economic plans, with one Tory MP telling the BBC: “It’s checkmate, we’re screwed”, the BBC further reported.
Background:
Kwasi Kwarteng, 47, took over as head of the British Treasury in September 2022, after new UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss, took over; with the responsibility of trying to pull the UK out of a serious cost-of-living crisis without plunging the public finances into the abyss.
He took over from Nadhim Zahawi, an Iraqi-born Kurd, who himself succeeded Rishi Sunak, of Indian origin, and Sajid Javid, with Pakistani roots, embodying a more inclusive face of the Conservative party.
His sack makes him the second shortest-serving UK chancellor on record.
The shortest serving chancellor, Iain Macleod, according to the BBC, died of a heart attack 30 days after taking the job in 1970.
Since 2019, the UK has had four chancellors, including Nadhim Zahawi who served the third shortest tenure with 63 days during a short-lived reshuffle under Boris Johnson, and Sajid Javid who served 204 days – the fourth shortest tenure on record.
MA/FNOQ