The Minority Caucus in Parliament has challenged the Majority to back their words with action and support the Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu to move the motion of censure against Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta.
Deputy Minority Whip Ahmed Ibrahim who addressed the media in Parliament on Tuesday, October 25, disclosed that the Minority leader on Monday served notice to the Chairman of the Business Committee and the Majority leader he will move a motion to call for the head of the Finance Minister.
According to him, if the Majority side believes firmly that the Finance Minister has not performed and is destroying the economy, the best thing is to support the Minority leader’s motion on the floor.
“We have 137 plus one Majority and 137 minority. If both sides of the House believe the Finance Minister has failed the economy as is clearly the case, it should n to be difficult to mobilize 183 MPs, the required 2/3 of all MPs, to dismiss or reshuffle Ken Ofori-Atta.”
“So if our brothers in the Majority believe in this, what they should do is support the motion of the Minority leader for the dismissal of the finance minister.”
Earlier, some NPP MPs issued an ultimatum to President Akufo-Addo to sack Ken Ofori-Atta and his Deputy Charles Adu Boahene to give confidence to the financial sector and help stabilize the struggling Cedi.
At a press briefing on Monday, October 25 when the House resumed business after a long recess, the NPP MPs made up of mostly backbenchers led by the member for Asante Akim North, Andy Appiah-Kubi, warned failure to heed their call and they will boycott all government business in Parliament.
He said, “We are, by this medium, expressing our strong desire that the President change the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry without further delay in order to restore hope to the financial sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of the economy.”
“We plead that the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori atta, and the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Adu Boahene be removed from office.”
”We hope this prayer will be carried to the presidency.”
“We want to serve notice, however, that until such persons are made to resign or removed from office, we members of the Majority caucus here in Parliament will not participate in any government business by or for the President or any minister,” they threatened.
Responding to the Majority’s call, Hon. Ahmed Ibrahim said, “Now they have shown indication that they also don’t want the Finance Minister. This is a clear indication that Finance Minister Ken Ofori has failed.”
He argued claims that the Finance Minister performed well in the first three years is false because the economic performance of that period is the result of oil resources that the government benefited from.
He warned that regardless of the calls by the Majority to the President, the Minority caucus will not stop the motion for the impeachment of the Finance Minister.
“Now that there is an indication from our brothers in the Majority that they support our motion, they must support us to move it on the floor because if MPs don’t want a Finance Minister, we cannot be blaming the President.
Meanwhile, the Minority is calling for the sack of the Governor of Bank of Ghana (BoG), Mr. Philli Addison who they say has failed to manage the stable finances of the state as inherited from the erstwhile governor.
The President, they said, should fire the Mr. Addison if he fails to do the honorable thing himself by resigning his position at the Central Bank.
