Second Deputy Majority Chief Whip, Habib Iddrisu, says it is presently irrelevant for Members of Parliament to demand the sacking of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
In October 2022, some New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament and the Minority called for the removal of the Finance Minister.
While NPP MPs said having Mr Ofori-Atta as the head of the Finance Ministry would not augur well for investment, the Minority accused the Finance Minister of illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution among others.
President Akufo-Addo intervened and urged that the Finance Minister conclude the country’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The opposition Members of Parliament on Tuesday, October 25, 2022 filed the motion to trigger a process to revoke the minister’s appointment citing severe economic challenges.
The vote of censure motion filed by the Minority against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta failed.
This is because only 136 legislators on the Minority side voted to demand the removal of Mr Ofori-Atta thus falling short of the two-thirds constitutional requirement for the motion to pass through.
The proponents of the motion needed the votes of 183 legislators to have the motion passed against Mr. Ofori-Atta.
Ghana in May successfully secured a $3 billion deal from the IMF and since then there have been mild calls for the minister’s resignation.
In an interview with host of 3FM Sunrise Morning Show, Johnnie Hughes, the Member of Parliament of Tolon, Habib Iddrisu, noted that such calls can no longer hold as the economy has fared better under Mr Ofori-Atta’s leadership.
“This is not something that I don’t think we need to comment on. It has been abandoned. As at December last year, inflation was around 54% which has been brought down to 42%, and trying to stabilize the cedi that was about GHS 14 to GHS 15 to a dollar as at December last year which has now come to GHS 11 and GHS 12 cedis over the past three months. That is what we are looking at. What you are talking about now is definitely irrelevant” Mr. Habib Iddrisu said.