The Minority in Parliament is again demanding that the Finance Minister, Ken-Ofori Atta resigns or be sacked from his post.
The group contends that the Minister’s incompetence has contributed to the economic crisis which has necessitated the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) for $3 billion in support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Minority caucus filed the vote of censure motion against the Finance Minister, accusing him of mismanagement of the economy, financial recklessness, conflict of interest, and gross mismanagement of the economy.
The censure motion failed during voting on Thursday, December 8, 2022, as the Majority caucus staged a walkout.
This was 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.
Reacting to a briefing on the DDEP by the Finance Minister in Parliament, some members of the Minority caucus, MP for Asunafo South, Eric Opoku and MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa called for the resignation of the Minister.
“Mr. Speaker, the Finance Minister ought to have resigned long time ago, our colleagues on the other hand [Majority caucus], share this view with us. They agree with us that the Minister is messing up the economy. We must rise up against the incompetence and recklessness of the Honourable Minister of Finance,” Eric Opoku reiterated.
Ablakwa also insisted, “what did the Jamaicans do? Immediately they ran their country into the ditch, the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Governor of the central bank of Jamaica all resigned. This Finance Minister must go”.