Carlos Ahenkorah Faces Backlash Over ‘US$1 to GH¢50’ Comment

Social media users reacted angrily to a comment on the exchange rate trajectory, specifically the cedi to dollar rate, by a New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament, Carlos Ahenkorah.

While Ahenkorah’s comment was economy-related, users on X referenced an incident in 2021 when the Tema West Member of Parliament disrupted the voting process for a new Speaker of Parliament.

Speaking during a discussion on UTV on May 27, 2024, Ahenkorah remarked, “With this dollar issue, I said that if not for the fact that NPP was in power, by now the dollar would have been GH¢50.00 against 1 dollar. This is because of the policy put in place by this government for the demand for the dollar to be this way, especially Gold for Oil. We would wish it was lower, but with the depreciation of 14 percent, it is far better than that of the NDC government.”

Comments posted under UTV’s post on X ranged from regret that despite his electoral crime on open TV, Ahenkorah continues to comment on national issues when the said crime has not been prosecuted.

Others criticized the media for giving a platform to lawbreakers like the Tema West MP, while some lamented how and why people vote for the likes of Ahenkorah.

An X user, ALI SIDI (@BELLOSIDI), reacted to the comment: “You’re free to talk this way because this wayward government failed to prosecute you when you broke COVID-19 protocols with impunity and snatched ballot papers, ran, chewed and swallowed them in the full glare of the public and on national television. So you think you have the license to talk anyhow.”

Kay Parker (@su_pre_mo) said: “What do you expect from a member of parliament who stole a ballot box and chewed the papers?”

Virgin@25 (@Kobbystr_) also joined in: “These politicians are just evil.”

As of May 27, 2024, the Interbank forex rates from the Bank of Ghana indicate that the Ghana cedi is trading against the dollar at a buying price of 13.9480 and a selling price of 13.9620. At a forex bureau in Accra, the dollar is being bought at 14.80 and sold at 15.00.

Against the Pound Sterling, the cedi is trading at a buying price of 17.7712 and a selling price of 17.7904. In forex bureaus in Accra, the pound sterling is being bought at a rate of 19.00 and sold at 19.70. The Euro is trading at a buying price of 15.1360 and a selling price of 15.1498.