Speaker of Parliament, Alban S.K. Bagbin, has placed an embargo on all business from the Ministry of Finance till Ken Ofori-Atta renders account on the COVID-19 expenditure.
The Minister, he said, must also appear before the House to respond to parliamentary questions that have been pending for months now.
Speaker Alban Bagbin gave the ultimatum on Thursday when the Finance Minister, yet again, failed to appear on the floor of the House during question time.
The Speaker was not enthused at the continuous absence of the Minister from the Chamber and directed the Finance Committee to suspend all deliberations on a €75 million facility for a COVID-19 response program that it is currently considering.
“Until we go through the accountability process, we will not take that motion… Today, he has another request before us. That will also be affected.”
“Until he comes to respond to the questions and to submit the statement giving an explanation as to how the money has been applied, we will not entertain any business from that Ministry,” Mr. Bagbin announced on the floor.
Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta was scheduled to deliver a statement on the COVID-19 expenditure on Thursday 16th June, 2022 but that session was postponed at the last hour at the request of the Minister.
According to Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Finance Minister has pleaded for more time to enable him peruse answers to the questions provided by the Ministry’s technical team.
“He pleaded that he should see the questions first, read them and appreciate what the technical people have brought and if there are any other matters to be added on he will do so before he comes to this House so he will be able to give a comprehensive response.”
The Suame MP also dismissed claims that the Finance Minister is running from accountability.
He countered, “For anybody to jump to the conclusion that the minister is running away from responsibility, I shudder to think of how that is coming about.”
The Minority in Parliament has been challenging President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to authorize a probe into Covid -19 spending if he has respect for the Constitution.
