The noose is tightening around the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta’s neck, as the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, promptly admitted the Censure Motion with countdown for a secret vote on Thursday, November 10, 2022 begins.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the North Tongu in the Volta region, who announced this yesterday, while displaying portions of the Order Paper, declared on his Facebook page “time up for disastrous & dangerous Ken”.
The motion is in the name of Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, and 128 other Members of Parliament (MP).
The Minority in Parliament, filed the vote of censure against the Finance Minister, citing seven reasons which, include conflict of interest and fiscal recklessness, leading to the sharp depreciation of the Ghana Cedi.
However, the Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has raised an objection to a motion of a vote of censure filed against Mr Ofori-Atta.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Mr Afenyo-Markin, argued that the reasons given by the Minority were unjustified, adding that the Minister of Finance, has not been heard on the allegations.
Portions of page “Notice of Motion on a vote of Censure Motion said that “that this Honourable House passes a vote of censure on the Minister responsible for Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, in accordance with Article 82 of the 1992 Constitution on the following grounds:
“Despicable conflict of interest ensuring that he directly benefits from Ghana’s economic woes as his companies receive commissions and other unethical contractual advantage, particularly from Ghana’s debt overhang;
“Unconstitutional withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund in blatant contravention of Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution supposedly for the construction of the President’s Cathedral;
“Illegal payments of oil revenues into offshore accounts in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution;
“Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament;
“Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghana Cedi which is currently the worse performing currency in the world;
“Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and an excruciating cost of living crisis; and Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship.
Mr Afenyo-Markin, argued that “If you go through our order paper in this House, clearly committees bring reports, we submit applications and motions are advertised on their own. So a motion for a censure against the Finance Minister…Mr. Speaker, we should not forget that we are in a political space. The Minister has been condemned long before he is heard. The respondent in this application has been condemned with allegations, not facts. We all want a fair hearing.”
All the MPs on the Minority side are signatories to a motion for a vote of censure on Ken Ofori-Atta filed on Monday.
The Minority, cited the overall mismanagement of the economy and ethical concerns, among others.
The ongoing crisis has seen inflation reach 37.2 percent and the cedi tagged as the worst performing currency in 2022, with it trading at around GH¢14 to a dollar.
The motion was filed a day before a group of Majority MPs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) also came out asking for the removal of the Finance Minister, as well as the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen, over their poor handling of the economy which is in dire straits.
It comes as MPs on the Majority side are pushing for the immediate removal of Ofori-Atta, have softened their stance after meeting President Nana Akufo-Addo on the matter.
They have kowtowed to the President’s pleas to have the Minister stay in office to seal Ghana’s bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
But the President fears terminating the appointment of Mr Ofori-Atta, will disrupt the IMF programme and asked the MPs, who have threatened to boycott the government’s business and the presentation of the 2023 budget to exercise patience.
The grounds the Minority cites for the vote of censure are the: Despicable conflict of Interest ensuring that he directly benefits from Ghana’s economic woes as his companies receive commissions and other unethical contractual advantages, particularly from Ghana’s debt overhang.
Unconstitutional withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund in blatant contravention of Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution, supposedly for the construction of the President’s Cathedral: Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution: Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament .
Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghana Cedi which is currently the worst-performing currency in the world: Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude, resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and an excruciating cost of living crisis; Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which as occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship.
