New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bortianor-Ngleshie Amanfro, has accused Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, of acting in bad faith after the president pleaded with the majority in parliament to step down on calls for his dismissal.
The warning, comes as the Special Prosecutor, has been petitioned by a pressure group, Occupy Ghana, to probe the alleged attempt to bribe some Majority MPs, who were calling for the dismissal of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.
According to Sylvester Matthew Tetteh, a member of the majority side of parliament, comments made by the Finance Minister after they heeded the president’s request for time, can affect the president’s plea.
“But when the finance minister, after this, goes public and starts making such public statements, we don’t know the challenges he’s gone through… I mean, these are comments in bad taste, and that is what I am saying, from where I sit, the signals I am picking, such comments, if it is not checked, will go down on the president’s plea,” he stated yesterday Tuesday, October 11, 2022, on the Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV.
“We had a meeting, and the president had made a plea; the majority caucus had taken that plea in good faith and to have gone through a process the president had asked. One party, in this case, should not go to town. It’s not good,” he added.
He hinted that, the caucus would likely take action, such as boycotting the minister’s upcoming budget presentation in parliament, if his utterances are not checked.
“Events after and the subsequent pronouncements by the minister, the signals I am picking, if they don’t address it, he will come to the house to meet an empty chamber,” he stated.
Following an open call by about 80 majority MPs for the sack of Ken Ofori-Atta, President Akufo-Addo, convened a meeting with the caucus where he is said to have made some pleas.
According to reports, the president asked the caucus to give the minister some time to conclude the government’s ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the presentation of the 2023 budget in parliament.
But responding to the calls for his sacking, Mr Ofori-Atta, in a recent engagement with the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), said he rather remains focused on helping the country overcome the current economic challenges, despite the pains he has gone through being the minister.
“You have a finance minister who has gone through all the pains and aches, and nobody can really come and say, ‘we don’t understand what we’re doing’,” he stated.
OccupyGhana in a letter addressed to the Special Prosecutor, said the allegation is a potential corruption offence that must be investigated by the Special Prosecutor to establish the veracity of the claims.
“We have followed media reports from interviews by Joy FM with Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu (MP, Suame, Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs) and Andy Appiah-Kubi (MP, Asante Akim North), which have been widely circulated by other media portals.”
OccupyGhana added that “in these interviews, the MPs alleged that an unnamed, wealthy businessman had attempted to bribe them.”
“That would be an attempt to influence the conduct of MPs in the course of their official duties, a potential corruption offence that falls within the remit of your office,” the letter added.
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has already said Parliament, will investigate the allegation of bribery levelled against the unnamed popular businessman.
“The alleged bribery has come to my notice, and we will investigate to see if it is true and the motive behind it,” he said last week to the Parliamentary Press Corps, in Accra.
An Economist, Professor Lord Mensah, has also said Ken Ofori-Atta, must resign for a new person to take over the management of the economy.
According to him, the Finance Minister, is trying to dissociate the economic dynamics from its management, adding that what Mr Ofori-Atta is doing is not real and it doesn’t happen anywhere.
The Economist, explained that economic management goes with economic dynamics.
“Obviously it has to do with management so if the entire population is calling for his head. It sends the signal that what is on the grounds is not good. So for him to say that we should focus on the IMF and possibly restore the economy it’s uncalled for.
“For me his understanding of the management and influence of economic dynamics, he should understand that the economy is not autopilot, the economy must be managed. If at the end of the day those that are supposed to feel the impact of the economy are saying that things are not going well with them that he should resign, he has to. He is not the one to come and explain and tell us that we have to focus on how we can restore the economy,” Prof. Mensah told Starr News.
He further stated that a new hand can give Ghanaians a breathing space.
“I think his resignation will bring about some confidence to the economy and as a result of that maybe the economy will head in the right direction. Trust me you cannot dissociate human thinking when it comes to economic dynamics from the real numbers that are on the ground. We are waiting for him to resign so that we can have breathing space. As we speak now his presence as a Finance Minister has brought about a whole lot of uncertainty in the economy.
“People cannot even plan, investors cannot even look ahead and look at the next moment. As we speak now there are so many things going on at the back side of the economy that we don’t even know.”
