The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, according to Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, is to responsible for the nation’s high cost of living right now.
Recently, prices for products and services have grown, and as a result of the rise in gasoline prices, transportation costs have climbed by more than four times.
At 40.4% right now, the country’s inflation rate is the highest it has ever been.
Mr. Iddrisu claims that despite all of these changes, the government has not taken action to ease the current difficulty. Therefore, the Finance Minister needs to be held accountable.
The Tamale South MP made this statement on Tuesday during his testimony before the 8-member Adhoc Committee debating a vote of censure against the Finance Minister.
“Ghana is seeing an increase in the cost of living, which is compounded by unchecked inflation. We believe the Honourable Minister for Finance should be held accountable for this. We are arguing that accountability must be shared.
The chairman continued, “Chairman, when we say the cost of living and hardship, we are also concerned about the investments of people connected to pensions and even the financial viability of Ghana’s banking sector and the attempt to deal with it, and we think that Ken Ofori-Atta must be held accountable for that.”
In the meantime, Gabby Otchere-Darko, the legal counsel for Ken Ofori-Atta, has demanded proof of the Minority’s accusations against the Minister.
The attorney requests specifics from the minority legislators to back up their particular claims.
This, he claims, will allow his client to more accurately evaluate the accusations that are the basis for the demand for his removal.
If this is not done, according to Mr. Otchere-Darko, the petitioners may ambush the beleaguered Minister with inquiries that may not be relevant to the investigation.
There will be surprises at every turn of the proceedings if we are not vigilant, he continued.