The Minority in Parliament has served notice that it will move its vote of censure motion against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, on Thursday, November 10, 2022.
The Minority filed the vote on censure against the Minister on grounds of conflict of interest and financial recklessness leading to the current economic crisis.
Addressing the media, the Deputy Minority Chief Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim, said the group will not relent in its efforts to have the Finance Minister removed from office.
“The motion of censure is slated to be moved on Thursday, the 10th of November 2022, and the Minority Chip Whip, Mubarak Muntaka has sounded a note of caution to all Minority MPs that all 136 minority MPs must be in the chamber on Thursday, so any member who absents himself does so at his own risk.”
Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim added that the Finance Minister has been duly served and will be in the Chamber to defend himself.
The grounds the Minority cites for the vote of censure are:
- Despicable conflict of interest ensuring that he directly benefits from Ghana’s economic woes as his companies receive commissions and other unethical contractual advantages, particularly from Ghana’s debt overhang.
- Unconstitutional withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund in blatant contravention of Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution, supposedly for the construction of the President’s Cathedral:
- Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution:
- Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament 5. Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghana Cedi which is currently the worst-performing currency in the world:
- Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude, resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and an excruciating cost of living crisis;
- Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which as occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship
I can turn economy around
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is fighting to save his job and has called on Ghanaians to trust in his competence and ability to rescue Ghana’s ailing economy.
Speaking at a meeting with the Association of Ghana Industries, Mr. Ofori-Atta said Ghana remains the best destination to do business.
“Let me assure you that you have a Finance Minister who has gone through all the pains and the aches, and nobody can really say we don’t understand what we are doing. The question is what resources do we have and how are we going to deploy them in the nation that we have and how do we stand firm in very difficult circumstances but being very confident?”
“Let me assure you all that your best bet is still Ghana; we can do it, and we should do it,” the embattled Finance Minister said.
