The Majority caucus in Parliament has resumed calling for the resignation or dismissal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. Reports indicate that the caucus seeks to determine the fate of the Minister in a meeting during the week.
The previous year saw agitations from some New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament towards the minister’s approach during a peak stage of an economic downturn.
About 80 NPP MPs staged a press conference to express their grievances. Later, more MPs joined the course. They demanded that either the minister himself resigns or President Akufo-Addo dismisses him.
This was also besides the fact that the Minority caucus in parliament and many Ghanaians had been calling for the exit of the Minister.
Given that the country had already initiated processes for its International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, the president pleaded that Mr. Ofori-Atta be allowed to complete the process after which he may be made to exit.
This was agreed upon by the agitated NPP MPs during a closed door meeting with the president.
On 19th May, 2023, the IMF finally approved the country’s bailout request and soon disbursed the first tranche of about $600 million of the $3bn to the Bank of Ghana.
Given that the deal has been sealed and executed, calls have been reignited for the exit of the minister. First, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) noted that the president needs to deliver on his promise, followed by the recent pressure from the governing party’s MPs.
“My job is to expose the failings I think are happening at the Ministry of Finance… Principle and conviction alone should make you resign,” MP for Subin, Eugene Boakye Antwi said.
The minister’s performance had become an eyesore to many to the point that a vote of censure was proposed by the NDC MPs last year to vacate him from the office.
To achieve this goal, a two-thirds vote was needed.
However, the NPP MPs argued that the approach called for by the NDC MPs was purely politically motivated and that it was not for the good course.
In effect, the NPP MPs staged a walkout as the vote of censure was about begining, an act which spelt failure for the NDC to remove the minister.
Source: Dehotpress
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