The 8-member Ad-hoc Committee set up by Parliament to investigate the minority’s censure motion against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori- Atta, has laid its report before the House.
This comes a week after the committee concluded its work. The chairman of the committee, Speaker Alban Bagbin, gave the committee a seven-day ultimatum
to present their findings for debate in the House.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a member of the committee, expressed dissatisfaction with the slow pace of dealing with the committee’s report and making
a final decision on the Finance Minister.
He said, “I was unhappy about the laissez-faire attitude… the heart of this issue is that Article 82 has been triggered. It says that during the
debate, the minister facing a vote of censure must be heard, and that has been done. I thought that in the business statement for next week it would have been specifically and clearly programmed so that we would have a day set aside for the debate”.
His view is that the longer the Finance Minister remains in office, the greater the hardships Ghanaians will suffer.
“Every single day that Dr Ofori Atta continues to stay and operate from the Finance Ministry, we see more
downgrades, inflation begins to get through the roof, the cost of living crisis is becoming debate more unbearable, nothing new except the imposition of taxes” the MP emphasized.
Mr Ablakwa believes that once the minister has been heard as stipulated by Article 82, “it is now time for a full-blown debate, and most importantly, the Ghanaian people are looking up to us,” adding that this assignment must be completed so “Ghanaians can know where their MPs stand.”
The North Tongue MP also invited NPP MPs to join them in removing the Finance Minister, warning that if Mr Ofori-Atta remained in office, MPs would have abdicated their responsibility.
“I hope that we meet the two-thirds threshold if only our colleagues on the other side will just show some principles and consistency…” he
said.
“To the extent that he doesn’t want to resign and the President does not want to dismiss him, the onus is on us MPs and I do hope that my colleagues will value public opinion, will respect the will of the people and will remember that it is the Ghanaian people who elected us and brought us here, and we must at all times reflect what they expect,” Mr Ablakwa added.