The Parliament of Ghana was yesterday thrown into a state of pandemonium when some eighty members of the Majority side called a press conference to demand the dismissal of the Finance Minister, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Mr Charles Adu Boahen, over the current economic crisis facing the country.
Whilst the eighty MPs are forcefully pushing the agenda, the remaining fifty seven have remained quiet – fueling the perception that they are not in favour of what their colleagues are doing.
The eighty MPs, led by MP for Asante Akim North, Mr Kwame Appiah-Kubi, warned that until Mr Ofori-Atta and Mr Charles Adu Boahen are made to resign from office, they will not participate in any business of government, by or for the president.
“We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the president changes Minister of Finance and the Minister of State in charge of Finance without further delay, in order to restore hope in the financial sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of the economy.
“The summary of our concern leads to a plea that the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori Atta and the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Charles Adu Boahen be removed from office.
“We are saying that if our request is not responded to positively, we will not be present for the budget hearing, neither will we participate in the debate,” he said.
Giving reasons for their call, Mr Appiah- Kubi noted that there have been occasions where the Majority Caucus have defended allegations of conflict of interest, lack of confidence and trust against the finance ministry.
But the recent developments in the economy are of great concern to the greater majority of members of our caucus and our constituents, Mr Appiah- Kubi said.
He indicated that the caucus has made its concerns known to the president through the Parliamentary leadership and the leadership of the party, but has not received any positive response, hence the resort to a presser.
The group called on all their colleagues to support them to make their dream of the Finance Minister’s removal a reality.
Minority files a motion of censure
Meanwhile, the minority members of Parliament have also taken the issue a step further, by filing a Motion of Censure. The motion, when admitted by the Speaker, will require two-thirds of the members of the House to vote to remove the Finance Minister from office.
“Yesterday at the Business Committee, I served notice to the Majority Leader and Chair of the Business Committee that I will lead my side to file a motion for the removal of the Minister for Finance,” Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu said, whilst welcoming his colleagues from recess.
Mr Iddrisu indicated that Parliament had the mandate to censure any Minister who is not living up expectation and they will lead the way with the Finance minister.
Giving reasons for the Minority’s position, Mr Iddrisu said that traders and businesses are suffocating, the cedi is performing badly and poverty is written all over the faces of people, due to the incompetence of the Minister for Finance and as such he must be removed.
The state of the nation requires Parliament to sit up and act in the national interest in order to save industries from collapsing and the economy from further decay, hence the call for the removal of the Finance Minister, Mr Iddrisu said.
“We are convinced he is not competent enough to hold the position further and hold the country and economy to ransom.”
He, however, noted that he does not have the numbers to cause the removal, since members on his side are 137, but he needs about 183 members.
He, therefore, expressed his excitement at the earlier action by the majority and hoped that they will support the minority to save the economy from the mess caused by the Finance minister. “Mr Speaker, I invite them to go beyond the rhetorics of the press conference to join us wholeheartedly and support us…Support us to sack him.”
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu raised his concern about the effect of Ofori-Atta’s removal on the IMF negotiation and 2023 budget.
Despite agreeing with both the Minority and Majority members on hardships in the country and the need to resolve it, the Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu expressed concern over the ramification Mr Ofori-Atta’s dismissal will have on Ghana’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and the preparation of the 2023 budget.
“…Mr Speaker, my own personal thinking is whether or not it should be done midstream into the negotiations with the IMF and again midstream in the crafting of a budget.
“What will be the effect of this in the negotiations and its impact on the performance on the currency as we see now,” Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu quizzed.
Vice President and Governor of the Bank of Ghana
Before a decision could be taken on the call for the Finance Minister to be removed, another group from the Minority caucus also called for the removal of the Vice President , Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia as the head of the Economic Management Team ( EMT) and the dismissal of the Mr Ernest Addison as the Governor of Bank of Ghana.
According to the group, led by Minority Chief Whip, Mr Muntaka Mubarak, the Finance Minister reports to the head of the Economic Management Team (EMT), while the BoG head is partly in control of the public purse, so Mr Ofori-Atta should not be the only one to be removed.
“We are calling on the Vice President to step down as the head of the Economic Management Team and we are also calling on the Governor of the Bank of Ghana to also step down.”
The group said if parliament had the mandate to dismiss the two, they would have gone ahead to do so but unfortunately Parliament cannot and that’s why they are calling on the government to do so.
The group presented seven strong solid points why Mr Ofori-Atta should not remain in office.
The Seven Sins of Ofori-Atta
- The despicable conflict of interest ensuring that he directly benefit from Ghana’s economic woes as his company continues to receive commission and other unethical contractual advantage.
- Unconstitutional withdrawal from the consolidated fund in blatant contravention with article 178 of the 1992 constitution and the Petroleum Management Act supposedly for the construction of the President’s cathedral.
- Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts in flagrant violations of Article 176 of the 1992 constitution be and the PFM Act as well as the Petroleum Revenue Act , Act 815
- Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament where he decided to account for expenditure as amortization and certain expenditure as footnote in the financial reporting standard contrary to global financial reporting standards.
- Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghanaian cedi which currently the worst performing currency in the entire globe.
- The alarming incompetence and the frightening ineptitude resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and excruciating cost of living crisis that we are seeing
- Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship to the people of Ghana.
Party calls for calm
In a related development, the National Executive body of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has taken notice of the press conference held yesterday by some members of the Majority Caucus of Parliament. In a statement signed by the National Chairman, Stephen Ayesu Ntim, the National Executive body has urged all stakeholders to remain calm as they engage the Government and the Parliamentary Group to seek an amicable solution.
