According to Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has performed poorly during his tenure.
Mr. Ofori-Atta, in his opinion, is unfit to continue serving as the Finance Minister.
The Tamale South legislator said on Tuesday, November 15, in Parliament, during the committee hearing of the allegations against Mr. Ofori-Atta, “His performance is poor; he is not qualified to be Finance Minister.”
Dr. Dominic Ayine, one of the eight members of the committee looking into the charges against the Minister, stated during the hearing that the people who are supporting the move to censure Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta are not the accusers.
The Minority MPs who signed the resolution, according to Dr. Ayine, just want the President to choose someone else as Finance Minister.
He said “they are not accusers.”
“They just think that the president should not be giving him a place as Finance Minister.”
The committee was established by the Speaker of the House, Alban Bagbin, to look into the accusations made against Mr. Ofori-Atta by the parliamentary minority, who also submitted a resolution to have him removed from office.
The eight-member committee has seven working days to finish its job and submit the report. Its co-chairs are MPs representing Bolgatanga East and Adansi-Asokwa, respectively, Dr. Ayine and KT Hammond.
The Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, disputed the Minority’s motion, arguing that the Finance Minister will be treated unfairly if the House approves the application. The Speaker’s decision followed.
According to Mr. Afenyo-Markin, a careful examination revealed that the Minority’s assertions were criminal in nature.
To that end, he demanded that the Minister have a fair hearing.
Among other things, the Minority charged that Mr. Ofori-Atta personally benefited from each loan the administration took.
However, the Effutu Member of Parliament claimed that “after careful examination, these matters are of a criminal nature. A fair hearing should be provided to the Minister.
“We would be doing our colleague a great deal of injustice if we proceeded with the application. He emphasized that if this application is approved, the Minister would not have had enough time to organize his case, which would be unfair and unjust.
President Akufo-Addo was not prepared to fire the Finance Minister, according to Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu in support of the resolution to have him ousted.
He therefore pleaded with the Parliament’s majority members to back the effort to have him ousted.
Speaker Bagbin ruled on this issue after announcing the creation of the committee, saying, “The evidence will be presented to the committee. There will be a chance for the Minister to speak out.
The House will be given a report, and we will then discuss it.