Member of Parliament for Pru and former Minister for Power, Kwabena Donkor has challenged Ken Ofori Atta to, as a matter of national duty, resign from his position as the Minister responsible for Finance.
The Minister, according to him, has an excellent track record in the private sector and has contributed to the development of the country and the private sector and the landmarks are there for all to see.
He argued, however, that in the public sector same cannot be said of the Minister especially having categorically stated the country will never go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“Duty and honour require that he steps down. He has come to the end of the road.”
“I have a lot of respect for him as a person but the national interest requires that he resigns for somebody else, another captain to lead the team towards the IMF negotiations.”
Mr. Donkor made the call in an interview in Parliament Thursday and warned either that Ghana will be negotiating with the IMF from a position of weakness.
According to him, when a Minister says Ghana will never deal with the IMF and he is dragged unwillingly before the court of public opinion to go negotiate with the IMF, he will be doing so from a serious position of weakness.
Ghana, he said, will not get the best of that negotiation.
“It is in the light of this that I call on the Hon. Ken Ofori Atta to as a matter of national duty and in order to save the little honour left that he does the right thing and tender in his resignation.”
The Minister, he said, can act as a government advisor in the negotiation but not as a Minister of Finance.
Mr. Kwabena Donkor argued Ministers must begin to take responsibility in Ghana’s current level of political development.
“A minister who categorically states we will never go to IMF cannot be dragged unwillingly to lead our negotiations if we love our country. We need somebody who will believe in what they are doing to lead the negotiations.”
He stressed if Ken Ofori Atta does not resign then Parliament must keep faith with the Ghanaian people because they deserve better.
Parliament, he said, has the power to ask the Finance Minister to go and stressed the House must act.
