Afenyo-Markin rubbishes Minority’s censure motion against Ofori-Atta

The Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin has raised an objection to a motion of a vote of censure filed against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

The Minority in Parliament filed the vote of censure against the Finance Minister citing seven reasons which include conflict of interest and fiscal recklessness leading to the sharp depreciation of the Ghana Cedi.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Mr. Afenyo-Markin argued that the reasons given by the Minority were unjustified, adding that the Minister of Finance has not been heard on the allegations.

“If you go through our order paper in this House, clearly committees bring reports, we submit applications and motions are advertised on their own. So a motion for a censure against the Finance Minister…Mr. Speaker, we should not forget that we are in a political space. The Minister has been condemned long before he is heard. The respondent in this application has been condemned with allegations, not facts. We all want a fair hearing.”

All the Members of Parliament on the Minority side are signatories to a motion for a vote of censure on Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister, filed on Monday.

The Minority cites the overall mismanagement of the economy and ethical concerns, among others.

The ongoing crisis has seen inflation reach 37.2 percent and the cedi tagged as the worst-performing currency in 2022 with it trading at around GH¢14 to a dollar.

The motion was filed a day before a group of Majority MPs also came out asking for the removal of the Finance Minister as well as the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.

Members of Parliament (MPs) on the Majority side pushing for the immediate removal of Ken Ofori-Atta as Finance Minister have softened their stance after meeting President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on the matter.

They have kowtowed to the President’s pleas to have the Minister stay in office to seal Ghana’s bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The MPs largely belonging to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) wanted Ken Ofori-Atta and Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen dismissed over their poor handling of the economy which is in dire straits.

But the President fears terminating the appointment of Mr. Ofori-Atta will disrupt the IMF programme and asked the MPs who have threatened to boycott government’s business and the presentation of the 2023 budget to exercise patience.

The grounds the Minority cites for the vote of censure are the:

• 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

source: citinewsroom.com