The Vote of Censure Parliamentary Committee instituted by Speaker Alban Bagbin to probe into the allegations levelled against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, resumed its public hearings today.
The institutions; Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC) and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation(GNPC) took turns to make their submissions before the Committee.
On Tuesday, the Committee co-chaired by MP for Bolga East, Dominic Ayine and Adansi-Asokwa legislator, Kobina Tahir Hammond began sitting.
Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu and Ranking Member on the Finance Committee in Parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, together with Lawyer for the Finance Minister, Gabby Otchere Darko appeared before the Committee.
The moniker “Agyenkwa Budget,” which is Akan for “Savior,” was given to the 2022 budget.
At the end of his speech before parliament, Ken Ofori-Atta said, “Mr. Speaker, I present to you the Agyenkwa Budget.”
The introduction of a 1.75% e-transaction tax, Mobile Money and bank transfers, the elimination of road tolls, and the allocation of GHC 1 billion to promote young entrepreneurs are some important aspects of the 2022 budget.
Though not much detail was given about the name, it projects that the 2022 budget does not add up to the hardships of Ghanaians.
While speaking on the floor of parliament on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, Ofori-Atta pointed out that the burdens of Ghanaians have been reduced since the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) took over from former president John Dramani Mahama.
“Mr. Speaker, I present to you the Agyenkwa Budget,” Ken Ofori-Atta said to conclude his presentation in parliament.
Some highlights of the 2022 budget are the introduction of a 1.75% tax on e-transactions; Mobile Money and bank transfers, the scrapping of road tolls, and the setting aside of GHC1billion to support young entrepreneurs.
Other initiatives introduced in the presentation are the YouStart Initiative to curb youth unemployment in Ghana and the government’s Development Bank Ghana receiving an operational license to commence work.
The implementation of a new tax on electronic transactions was announced by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta a year ago during the presentation of the 2022 budget.
The government has chosen to impose a fee on all electronic transactions to broaden the tax net and include the informal sector, the minister said as he delivered the 2022 budget statement to Parliament.
The “Electronic Transaction Levy or E-Levy” will be used to refer to this.
With the exception of inward remittances, which will be the recipient’s responsibility, all electronic transactions, including mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances, will be taxed at an applicable rate of 1.75%, he said.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Bagbara Tanko has urged Ghanaians to remain calm as the increase in food prices is not an indicator of possible food shortages in the coming days.
According to him, the country experienced a prolonged drought last year and that affected yield, however, he disclosed the government managed to hold the country down and properly managed food resources.
“This year, we have survived on last year’s yield up till the point where southern Ghana harvested from its major season. Although some challenges were faced, we had some harvests from the major season.
“We have started the minor season for southern Ghana and are experiencing very good rains so our anticipation is that at the end of the minor season for the sector, we are going to have a bumper harvest,” he told Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show.
“Reports received from our regional directors on the participation from the Planting for Food and Jobs and even commercial participation show that there will be a bumper harvest.
“We will not be hungry and the increased harvest is sure to reduce the price of food because we will soon be in the midst of plenty. Northern Ghana has started harvesting and the crop season has been excellent. The floods didn’t have a significant effect on crop harvest.”
Informing Ghanaians of other factors responsible for the increase in food prices, he stated, “Let’s also not forget that fuel prices can make the prices of goods and services soar and that we have no control over. But form our end as the Ministry of Agriculture, we are giving Ghanaians the assurance that there is no way we will be hungry or suffer famine.
The communication officer of the Ministry clarified that the Minister for the sector has never disputed the fact that food prices have increased, but rather sought to justify the increase.
Ghana in recent months has witnessed a sharp increase in food prices, including staples produce like beans, maize and millet.
While some have attributed the increment to the hike in fuel prices, others believe it is the currency’s depreciation.
But the government insists that food prices have not increased.
The Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has disputed claims that food prices have skyrocketed.
Speaking at a swearing-in ceremony of the newly appointed members of the Irrigation Company of Upper Region (ICOUR), Dr Akoto stressed that statistics available to his outfit do not support the increment claims; thus, “it is a wrong perception.”
Agric Minister said there was a “heavy drought” in the southern part of the country in 2020.
Therefore, affecting the production of the cereal crop and other foodstuffs this year.
The implementation of a new tax on electronic transactions was announced by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta a year ago during the presentation of the 2022 budget.
The government has chosen to impose a fee on all electronic transactions to broaden the tax net and include the informal sector, the minister said as he delivered the 2022 budget statement to Parliament.
The “Electronic Transaction Levy or E-Levy” will be used to refer to this.
With the exception of inward remittances, which will be the recipient’s responsibility, all electronic transactions, including mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances, will be taxed at an applicable rate of 1.75%, he said.
Government has announced a 1.75% levy to be placed on electronic transactions, Minister for Finance and Economic Planning has announced.
According to Ken Ofori-Atta, the levy will be known as the “Electronic Transaction Levy or E-Levy” and forms part of efforts to widen the country’s tax net and rope in the informal sector.
Delivering the 2022 budget statement before Parliament on Wednesday, the minister said “After considerable deliberations, Government has decided to place a levy on all electronic transactions to widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector. This shall be known as the “Electronic Transaction Levy or E-Levy.”
“Electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances will be charged at an applicable rate of 1.75%, which shall be borne by the sender except for inward remittances, which will be borne by the recipient,” he explained.
“A portion of the proceeds from the E-Levy will be used to support entrepreneurship, youth employment, cyber security, and digital and road infrastructure among others. 3y3 Baako, Ye nyinaa bey tua. Mr. Speaker, this new policy also comes into effect (once appropriation is passed) from 1st January 2022. The government will work with all industry partners to ensure that their systems and payment platforms are configured to implement the policy,” the minister told the House.
The presentation is in accordance with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution and section 21 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).
A leading figure of the Coalition for Democratic Accountability and Inclusive Governance, Dr. Kojo Asante, has described the censure hearings against Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta as frustrating so far.
“It has just become like a courtroom. It was meant to be a debate; an establishment of facts in parliamentary style, but it has just become like a courtroom,” Dr. Asante complained.
The committee had a contentious start during its proceedings on Tuesday as its members debated the manner in which the Minority members could present their evidence against the Finance Minister.
Some of the committee members felt the hearing should be treated as a quasi-judicial proceeding.
Dr. Asante felt these discussions were unnecessary considering the concerns around the economy and the Finance Minister.
“I don’t know whether it is because there are too many lawyers leading these processes. It becomes a thing about needing evidence and so on… That is not helpful. Part of that, I find very frustrating.”
“This could have been dealt with a long time ago if the President had listened to all of us. Unfortunately, we are now in the space and this tug of war and still, our crisis hasn’t gone anywhere,” he added.
The Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC) and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) are expected before the committee later on Thursday.
The Finance Minister will appear on Friday after he requested time to prepare based on the evidence tendered to the committee by the Minority.
Former United Nations Senior Governance Advisor, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, says he is hoping that in the coming days, the Finance Minister would quietly resign from his position or the President would terminate his appointment.
According to him, their refusal to do so could possibly lead the country into a constitutional crisis which could further exacerbate the economic crisis the country is going through.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is currently facing a vote of censure motion filed against him by the Minority side in Parliament over accusations of corruption and gross incompetence.
The Speaker of Parliament has constituted an eight member committee to probe the accusations leveled against the Minister and provide a detailed report within seven days.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, Prof. Agyeman-Duah noted that should the ongoing stalemate happening in Ghana’s Parliament over the vote of censure continue, it may negatively affect the country’s financial relations with the outside world.
“Well my hope is that we will not get there. What I expect to happen in the coming days or weeks is perhaps the Finance Minister taking himself out of this dilemma, or the President just announcing that he’s displacing the Finance Minister because it will just be tragic for these two individuals to lead the country into such a constitutional jam. We don’t want that.
“We all know the difficulties we face, and in fact what we’re not even thinking about is the very negative impact of this crisis, or this stalemate I should say on our international partners and our financial relations with the outside world. Somewhere else our market would have plummeted further.
“So in fact we are doing ourselves a lot of ill if in fact the President and the Finance Minister continue to be intransigent on this matter and not to appropriately respond to the ground swell of public demand for the displacement of the Finance Minister,” he said.
Prof. Agyeman-Duah who has described the formation of the eight member committee as a face-saving measure by the Speaker, Alban Bagbin, to pacify both factions of the House, says the entire hearing process is unnecessary.
According to him, no matter the path taken, it will still end with the Finance Minister getting censured.
“I think we’ve come to a point where this matter should be resolved. It’s not necessary to go through this whole process. And I do agree with Amoako Baah and the others that look, this matter should have been settled right on the floor of Parliament. All this process of committee and… I don’t think it’s necessary. We are prolonging something that is inevitable,” he said.
Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe, a founding member of the New Patriotic Party, has wondered why President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is hesitant to dismiss Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, despite calls from NPP lawmakers.
According to him, this can be interpreted to mean that, the finance minister is sitting on some rot the president trusts that he is the only one who can fully protect.
He noted that a new minister might expose what the president and the finance minister are hiding from Ghanaians.
Speaking on Accra-based Joy FM, the former soldier added his voice to the numerous calls for the dismissal of the minister.
He said, after the minister had bragged that Ghana is a sovereign nation and it is capable of managing its own affairs and does not need any external help, he would have resigned the very day Ghana decided to seek support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“So you ask yourself, why is he still there? When a person is in position and the populace says ‘we’ve had enough of you, go away’ and still he wants to be there, the simple thing that should come to the mind of any ordinary Ghanaian is that he is sitting on the rot. When he’s not there, we’ll see how massive that rot is,” Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe explained.
When asked who Ofori-Atta is covering up for, Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe said, “Who is the appointing authority of this country? And has the President approved of his removal?
“The President should have asked him to go away. Here we have a situation where even an ordinary person in the streets says, ‘Ofori Atta must leave’.”
The embattled minister of finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, was reportedly annoyed by an attempt to give him money as a gift from some alleged investors who were actually members of Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s undercover investigative journalism team.
The Tiger Eye P.I. investigators, according to a report seen by GhanaWeb, pretended to be investors who wanted to invest in Ghana and needed to meet the Finance Minister to explore opportunities and other aspects of establishing up in Ghana.
The report states that the investigators previously met with Charles Adu Boahen, Ofori-deputy, Atta’s in a hotel suite in the United Arab Emirates, UAE, back in 2018. There, the now-fired Adu Boahen was paid money in exchange for facilitating access for the investors to people like Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, who allegedly accepted a US$200,000 “appearance fee” to meet investors.
Following their discussion with them, they went on to briefly meet Ofori-Atta in the Dubai airport as he was traveling to Tokyo for work.
According to the report, the minister was irate because neither he nor his PA received the financial gift from the Tiger Eye P.I. team.
“They were to have their chance, they thought when after several attempts Mr. Ofori-Atta agreed to meet them at the airport in Dubai on transit to Tokyo, Japan,” Asaase radio reportage stated.
“In the company of his then Personal Assistant (PA), Michael Bediako, Mr. Ofori-Atta met the supposed investors (investigators) at the Dubai terminal hotel (Dubai International Airport) on 5 April 2018 at around 6:30 am.
“Mr. Ofori-Atta was informed the meeting was with the Chairman of Al Baraka Islamic Bank of Bahrain, whose interest was to invest $500m to set up an “ethical” bank in Ghana.
“The meeting, per our checks, lasted some five minutes. Ken Ofori-Atta left very irritated when he was offered a “gift”, which he refused to accept, and walked out with his PA who was also offered a gift that was rejected as well,” the report added.
Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ latest ‘Galamsey Economy’ exposed Charles Adu Boahen, the dismissed Minister of State at the Finance Ministry over an alleged corruption scandal.
Anas in a post on his Facebook timeline hours before the showing of the ‘Galamsey Economy’ film noted that the minister made some shocking revelations to his team in a hotel in UAE, when they posed as possible investors to Ghana.
Adu Boahen among other things alleged that Bawumia will require about USD200,000 as an appearance fee from an investor to get his backing and influence in establishing a business in Ghana.
“You mean, like appearance fees and stuff?” the investigators asked, to which Adu Boahen responded: “I mean he, himself (the Vice President), if you give him some (USD) 200,000 or something as a token, as thank you, appreciation, that’s fine. He’s not really, he’s not really (like) that. All he needs is to worry about his campaign money in 2020.”
But Dr. Bawumia in a statement on Monday, November 14, denied the accusations and called for an investigation into the allegations.
They declared that they wanted the finance minister fired.
Andy Appiah-Kubi, a member of parliament for Asante Akyem North and spokesperson for the group of MPs calling for the dismissal of Ofori-Atta, declared that they would boycott the November 24 budget presentation if the Finance Minister is not dismissed.
He declared: “We’ve returned to (our request that the President fire him), therefore should the budget be submitted with the Finance Minister’s seal, we won’t take part because, in our opinion, we’re never going to do business with him.”
“And if we’re not going to do business with him, he does not participate in any process from the Presidency to the House. We will not participate in deliberations too,” he is quoted by myjoyonline.com.
“We’re not saying we won’t do President’s business. We’re saying we won’t do President’s business through Ofori-Atta. So if anybody else comes with President’s business, we’ll participate,” he said.
Calls for the removal of the Finance Minister have intensified as the ad-hoc committee sat yesterday November 15 to probe Ofori-Atta.
After hours of debate, the Finance Minister is set to report back to the committee on Friday.
Because Ken Ofori-Atta is unable to oversee the stability of the cedi and the Ghanaian economy, Ghanaians and Members of Parliament (MP), including some from the majority party, have called for his resignation.
However, President Akufo-Addo has disregarded these requests, blaming Ofori-continued Atta’s employment on his participation in the ongoing negotiations of a financial aid agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The peeved Mr. Akyireba who argues this is not enough justification to keep an underperforming minister in office, told Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, “It doesn’t make sense for the President to say Ken Ofori-Atta should finish the IMF negotiations. The minister is disliked by Ghanaians at the moment so how will they appreciate his negotiations? We simply don’t want him and or his negotiations. We place no value on his negotiations and want him gone.”
The Ghanaian people who he (Ofori-Atta) is representing want him out, and as a minister working for the people, Mr. Akyireba believes his dismissal should not have been dragged.
The forensic accountant is of the view the Finance Minister is lording himself over Ghanaians, and is pursuing his selfish interest, hence, his decision to remain in office.
A leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Richard Amoako Baah has said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo deserves to be sacked not the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
According to him, Mr Ofori-Atta cannot be faulted for running the economy down because it is the president who looked on for the economy to take a nose dive.
The former political science lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) made the call for the president to be sacked while speaking in an interview with the sit-in host of the Ghana Yensom morning show, Nana Otu Darko, on Accra 100.5 FM on Wednesday, November 16, 2022.
He said the president cannot be exonerated from the gross mismanagement of the economy by the finance minister.
He alleged the president and his finance minister benefit from the huge borrowings in the name of bonds.
He said all the finance minister did, he did in the name of the president and with the approval of the president.
“The president cannot turn around to tell Ghanaians he did not see what the finance minister was doing with the management of the economy,” he stressed.
He further alleged that when the president met with the Majority of NPP Members of Parliament pushing for the removal of the finance minister, he threatened to ensure they all lose their primary if they did not back down on their call.
He said: “The president [asked] them where they were when the finance minister was using his Databank to finance his campaigns.”
For these reasons, he said the President deserves to be fired.
The identity of a civil servant who is currently a Principal Economics Officer at the Ministry of Finance (MoF), believed to be the first port of call for Tiger Eye P.I. investigators in their endeavour to secure contact with the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and the then Deputy Minister for Finance, Charles Adu Boahen, has been revealed to Asaase News by a reliable source.
The civil servant, Solomon Amponsah, who works at the External Resource Mobilization and Economic Relation Division of the Ministry of Finance, is believed to have received a call from the late Ahmed Hussein-Suale, a Tiger Eye P.I. investigator, who suggested to Mr Amponsah to arrange a meeting between him (Ahmed Hussein-Suale), a Ghanaian Lawyer and the two Ministers of Finance in Dubai, towards a desire to open a bank in Ghana with about $500 million dollars.
Subsequently, the Ghanaian lawyer and Charles Adu-Boahen on the strength of the arrangement made by Solomon Amponsah, met with the undercover team posing as investors in a hotel suite in Dubai on 8 February, 2018, just 13 months after the Akufo-Addo administration assumed office.
After the meeting with Charles Adu Boahen, Tiger Eye’s next move was to meet the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta. Solomon Amponsah, came in handy again to continue with his arrangements towards a meeting between the Finance Minister and the Tiger Eye P.I. investigators who had posed as investors in Dubai.
They (Tiger P.I) were to have their chance, they thought, when after several attempts Mr Ofori-Atta agreed to meet them at the airport in Dubai on transit to Tokyo, Japan.
In the company of his then Personal Assistant (PA), Michael Bediako, Mr Ofori-Atta, met the supposed investors (investigators) at one of the terminal hotels at the Dubai International Airport hotel on Sunday 8 November 2018 at around 6:30am.
Mr Ofori-Atta according to the source, was informed the meeting was with the Chairman of Al Baraka Islamic Bank of Bahrain, whose interest was to invest $500m to set up an “ethical” bank in Ghana.
The meeting, per our checks, which had Mr Solomon Amponsah, and the Ghanaian lawyer present, lasted some five minutes. Ken Ofori-Atta, left very peeved when he was offered a “gift”, which he refused to accept, and walked out with his PA who was also offered a gift that was rejected as well.
It remains to be seen if these engagements with Solomon Amponsah were part of the Tiger Eye P.I. investigation and whether or not it will feature in future releases by Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
He claims that “They claim to operate on a paperless system. Do you not see 419?It is not logical…They are having trouble.
Because the Vice President stated he wants a paperless system by September 1 when he arrived at the port in July, there are systems that need to be finished.
In two months, can you complete this?”
Member of Parliament of Bolgatanga Central has said that the government is struggling to implement its touted paperless ports system adding that it has failed to deliver the intended results.
This follows claims by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta in his 2018 budget presented to parliament, in which he revealed the government’s introduction of paperless transactions at the country’s ports as a means of improving efficiency. According to him, implementation of the paperless system significantly reduced transaction time from 2 days to 8 hours (of compliant transactions) whilst revenue from the Port increased by 35.4 percent.
The MP who is certain that the system ought to be completed before it is implemented described it as a “419” move which “doesn’t make sense”. For him, two months is too short a time to make the new system effective.
“…they say they have done a paperless system. Can’t you see 419? It doesn’t make sense…they are struggling. There are systems that need to be completed because the Vice President arrived at the port in July and said by September 1 he wants a paperless system. Can you do this in two months?”
Isaac Adongo described as unrealistic, the government’s earlier declaration to roll out a paperless tax exemption system to block the revenue leakages that recur with the current manual system at the beginning of 2018.
He claimed the result of government’s “struggle” to implement the system is a result of taking credit for the work done by the opposition after the NDC presented the Single Window Bill to provide the legal effect to implementing single window as well as employing the services of West Blue Consulting, an IT firm engaged for the provision of the National Single Window and Risk Management System in Ghana.
“So you see what happens to you when you want to take the credit for somebody’s work? That is after the NDC government has done all the work…last year were you not here when we brought a bill for a single window to provide the legal effect to implementing a single window…when we recruited West Blue…when we developed all the systems. Now it is meant to be implemented and you say you want it in two months. You should see that the man is struggling,” the Bolgatanga MP lamented.
He vowed that the administration would be unable to meet its objectives.
“If you carefully examine the budget, you will notice that it is empty.The figures on the fiscal table do not back up the false promises.
Ghanaians won’t see anything concrete by the end of 2018,” he said.
The minority spokesperson on Finance who described the budget as an empty promise asserted that figures mentioned by the Finance Minister do not correspond with the reality on the ground.
“If you look at the budget carefully you will see it’s empty. The promises are empty and are not supported by the numbers on the fiscal table. Ghanaians will end the year 2018 without seeing anything tangible.”
Cassiel Ato Forson also questioned the Minister’s decision to extend the National Fiscal Stabilization and Special Import levy that was enacted in 2013 as a temporary tax to avert the economic woes at the time.
“The Minister of Finance said they have turned around the economy, granted that they have turned around the economy, why then are they extending the National Fiscal Stabilization and Special Import levy, the temporary taxes that were enacted in 2013 to deal with the problems the economy was facing at the time?”
Mr. Forson added that the debt-to-GDP ratio is approximately 73.6 percent but when the Energy Bond and the UT/Capital banks bond are added, the debt-to-GDP ratio will shoot up to 76.8 percent.
Growth
He said the boasting by the government to achieve 5.9 percent GDP growth in 2017 and 8.9 percent in 2018 could be misleading.
That, he said, was because the projected non-oil GDP growth of four percent in 2017 was lower than the realized non-oil GDP growth of 4.8 percent in 2016, while the projected non-oil GDP growth of 5 percent in 2018 was only 0.2 percent higher than the realized non-oil GDP growth in 2016.
Former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini, has signaled that the constitution of the ad hoc committee set up by the Speaker, Alban Bagbin, could pose an obstacle at the end of the proceedings.
The committee which was set up by the Speaker to investigate allegations of corruption and incompetence leveled against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta by the Minority side of Parliament in their motion of censure is evenly constituted with members from both divides of the House.
The 8-member ad hoc committee is chaired by the Adansi Asokwa MP, K.T. Hammond and Bolgatanga East MP, Dominic Ayine.
Other members of the committee from the Minority side are; North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Klottey-Korle MP, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings and Akatsi South MP, Bernard Ahiafor.
The rest from the Majority side include; Okaikoi Central MP, Yaw Boahmah, Ashanti Akyem Central MP, Emmanuel Anyimadu-Antwi and Sekondi MP, Andrew Egyapa Mercer.
According to Inusah Fuseini, while the membership of the committee may be trying to communicate a sense of neutrality, recent developments in the house may suggest otherwise.
“After the time that the Speaker established this committee, you could see the partisanship. And you could see the various actors in Parliament lining up behind their various leaders. So I’m not surprised at all that even though there had been attempt to appear to be neutral and interested in [presenting] the facts for people to understand what is at stake, those who are disputing the facts have laced their objections with political undertones.
“And there has been an attempt by the Minority to prove beyond doubt that Ken must go, and equally the Majority who are unrelenting in their defence of the Finance Minister. So then you have for the first time in our parliamentary democracy, apart from the censure motion, this is the only time a committee of Parliament has been formed which has no Majority, which has no Minority,” he said.
He noted that this membership structure will prove to be a problem at the end of the seven days when members are expected to come up with a resolution to be presented before the House.
According to him, with the even distribution of the committee and the unyielding stance of both sides, it is unlikely that a consensus will be easily reached, that is, even if it is reached at all.
“Committees of Parliament take decisions based on unanimity or consensus. So if it is going to be consensus, the issue would have to be put to a vote and I don’t know whether Speaker in establishing the eight member committee with co-chairmen had also thought of the custom vote. Because if the vote is taken and there is a tie, what happens?
“The constitution says that when there is a tie in parliament on an issue, the issue fails, it falls. What will happen at the committee level? So there are many around that. We’re waiting cautiously to see what happens after Friday because the issues cannot be resolved at the committee level. And like I told you when the committee was established, this issue will finally be resolved on the floor of the House,” he said.
The Lawyer for the Finance Minister in the ongoing censure motion hearing, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darkohas pleaded with the 8-member committee to furnish him with documents supporting the allegations against his client.
He revealed that his legal counsel does not have the full particulars of the evidence provided by the minority group in parliament pushing for the dismissal of Ken Ofori-Atta.
He is of the view that the documents provided to the ad-hoc committee by the minority group will enable his client better assess the allegations based on which his removal is being pushed for.
Failure to provide a detailed document, he says will be tantamount to ambushing Ken Ofori-Atta.
“It would not be fair for the Minister of Finance to be ambushed right here without any preparation to start answering questions. All we are asking for in the interest of justice is that we should be furnished with the full particulars of the facts in support of each of the allegations contained in the letter and then the supporting documents,” Mr. Otchere-Darko said.
Background
On October 25, 2022, the Minority in Parliament filed a censure motion against Mr Ken Ofori-Atta.
The minority group, among others, accused the Finance Minister of acting outside the powers of the office and largely blamed him for the country’s current economic woes.
Following a heated debate in Parliament over the vote of censure, Speaker Alban Bagbin instituted an ad hoc committee to be co-chaired by MP for Bolga East, Dominic Ayine and Adansi-Asokwa legislator, Kobina Tahir Hammond to look into the matter.
Other members of the committee include North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Klottey-Korle, the Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, and Okaikoi North MP, Emmanuel Ahiaku, from the Minority side.
Representatives from the majority side are Okaikwei Central MP, Yaw Boamah, Asante-Akim Central legislator, Kwame Anyimadu- Antwi, and Sekondi MP, Egyapa Mercer. The clerk to the committee is Mr Boamah Camilo, the Speaker added.
The Speaker said that following the procedure, a report would be brought before the House for a vote.
The first day of the public hearing of the committee on the motion of censure against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, was characterized by heated exchanges and clashes between the Minority members and some members of the Majority side.
The Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, also engaged in heated exchanges with counsel for the Finance Minister, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko.
Mr Otchere-Darko had sought to advise Mr Ablakwa to reserve some of his comments for a press conference and not the committee sittings, but in a sharp rebuttal, the North Tongu MP asked the seasoned lawyer not to attempt to teach him his job.
“You can’t come here and teach me how to do my work,” Mr Ablakwa said, adding, “you can’t come here and throw your weight about. This is Parliament, you can’t tell me what to do, you are not the chairman so don’t tell me what to do,” a livid Ablakwa retorted.
Mr. Otchere-Darko had earlier expressed concern that his client would be caught off guard by the evidence and requested “full particulars of the facts in support of the allegations against the [Finance] Minister.”
He also said there would not be enough time to scrutinise the evidence outlined by the Minority.
“It would not be fair for the Minister of Finance to be ambushed right here without any preparation to start answering questions.”
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, also dismissed suggestions that the current economic crisis in Ghana was mainly caused by the war being waged on Ukraine by Russia.
Addressing the Committee, the Tamale South MP said the “reckless borrowing” and “reckless spending” by the Finance Minister are the cause of Ghana’s woes.
“Did you borrow to support the war in Ukraine,” Mr Iddrisu asked, arguing that, it was because of Ofori-Atta’s recklessness that caused Ghana’s economic woes.
The Ad hoc Committee tasked to investigate the various allegations to justify the removal of the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta,from office commenced hearing yesterday, with the proponents of the censure motion outlining seven grounds to substantiate their call to push out the minister to save the Ghanaian economy from further deterioration.
The lead proponent, Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader, assisted by the Ranking Member on the Finance Committee, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, supported the seven grounds with figures from official documents, such as budgets and fiscal data series from the Ministry of Finance website, to firm up their motion for Parliament to impeach Mr Ofori-Atta.
They mentioned the grounds as conflict of interest, unconstitutional withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund, illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament, fiscal recklessness, leading to the crash of the Ghana cedi, incompetence and frightening ineptitude and gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy.
Supporting documents
To make their case, Mr Iddrisu tendered documents on which they are relying, including the Hansard on parliamentary debate on November 10, 2022, the Public Financial Management Act, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2018 (Act 982) and the Bank of Ghana Act, 2022 (Act 612).
Other documents on which they will rely are Article 82 of the 1992 Constitution, the Public Interest and Accountability Committee reports from 2018 to mid-2022, Staff Reports of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the rapid credit facility from 2018 to 2021, fiscal data from the Ministry of Finance website, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2018 (Act 982), the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815), budget statements from 2019 to 2022 and mid-year budget statements presented to Parliament from 2019 to 2022.
They are also relying on the Auditor-General’s report from 2018 to 2020, as well as information they have compiled from internationally recognised analyst websites, such as Goldman Sachs and Bloomberg.
Minister’s appearance
Originally, Mr Ofori-Atta was not due to appear before the committee, but he showed up at yesterday’s hearing in the company of his lawyer, Gabby Asare Otchere Darko, and his two deputies at the Finance Ministry, Dr John Kumah and Abena Osei-Asare, to apprise himself of the arguments being put up by the proponents of the censure motion to allow him to defend himself properly tomorrow.
Mr Ofori-Atta, dressed in his signature white ‘khaftan’ attire, was later joined by the Minister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah.
Demand by minister
The documents tendered were in response to a letter which the committee received from the Finance Minister, dated November 14, this year, which a co-chairman of the committee, Mr K.T. Hammond, had read out.
The letter, he said, had requested for specifics of the seven grounds (allegations) made against the minister by the motion proponents, as well as relevant evidential documents to enable him to properly defend himself.
Subsequently, both co-chairmen of the committee asked the proponents if there were any documents that they would be relying on for the purpose of making their case against the minister.
Furnish us with all documents
Unhappy with the list of documents being tendered by the proponents of the motion, counsel for Mr Ofori-Atta intervened and said per Article 23 of the 1992 Constitution, since the hearing was a quasi-judicial process, his client deserved a fair hearing.
Mr Otchere Darko said in the event matters did not go well at the hearing, the minister faced potentially the severest punishment a minister could get — removal from office.
He, therefore, requested for the full particulars of facts in respect of each of the allegations contained in their letter in order not to cause the minister to be ambushed right before the committee, “without any preparation to start answering questions”.
“Before we start this procedure, all we are asking for, in the interest of justice, is that we should be furnished with the full particulars of fact in support of each allegation contained in the letter.
“The documents are fine; before we look into the documents, we want the charges to be complete with the particulars,” Mr Otchere Darko said.
Why hearing?
On November 10, this year, the Minority Leader moved a motion on a vote of censure on the floor of Parliament to compel the House to impeach the Finance Minister.
However, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, referred the matter to the eight-member committee, co-chaired by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa, K. T. Hammond, and the MP for Bolgatanga East, Dr Dominic Ayine, to probe the allegations for prima facie evidence and report to the House in seven working days.
Based on the outcome of the hearing and the recommendations of the committee, the House will consider whether there are enough grounds to impeach and stop Mr Ofori-Atta from holding himself as the Finance Minister.
Minister not competent
Leading evidence in each of the allegations contained in the motion, the Minority Leader dwelt on the ground of unconstitutional withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund.
Starting with the construction of the National Cathedral, Mr Iddrisu said nobody was against the President promising and honouring God with a cathedral.
He, however, said public resources for such project should be approved by Parliament.
Contrary to that, he cited how a warrant signed by the Finance Minister on October 29, this year, led to the expenditure of GH¢142.76 million being allocated for the construction of the cathedral and asked if such an allocation was approved by Parliament.
Fiscal recklessness
On the deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament, the Minority Leader referred to the Auditor-General’s report and said per reports by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ghana’s national debt stock exceeded GH¢450 billion.
“As it was inherited in 2017, it was GH¢120 billion and the amount of money we now spend to service debt as of the end of 2021 was GH¢37 billion, ballooning to GH¢45 billion estimated by the close of this year.
“This can only be as a result of irresponsible borrowing,” Mr Iddrisu said.
He also reflected on the escalating inflation in the country to buttress his point.
He also cited the President’s broadcast to the nation on Sunday, October 30, this year about how high inflation had contributed to unacceptable hardship facing Ghanaians today, saying “we are holding the Minister of Finance wholly responsible for that”.
Mr Iddrisu said in 2017, $1 was equivalent to GH¢4.2, but today $1 was GH¢15 and highlighted how the cost of doing business had become unacceptably high.
“The pharmaceutical industry is complaining because it affects their imports and they are made to pay more,” he said, adding that the depreciation of the cedi had even affected Makola women because they could not trade effectively, as they made loses due to the consequence of borrowing.
Quoting from the Auditor-General’s report of December 31, last year, he said the annual budget funding amount reported by the Ministry of Finance was GH¢2.06 billion, whereas the Controller and Accountant General reported GH¢3.3 billion, a variance GH¢1.3 billion.
He said the Minority was dissatisfied with the performance of the Finance Minister and considered him not competent to continue to hold office as Finance Minister.
Unsustainable debt
Dr Forson also told the committee that the government had since been misreporting economic data to Parliament with the aim of misleading the House and the investor community.
That was mainly to create the false impression to Parliament that the Finance Minister had complied with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2018 (Act 982), when that was not the case, he said.
Quoting Act 982, he said in spite of a set of rigid rules on fiscal responsibility, Ghana’s debt had become unsustainable.
“What we have seen over the years, even though the Finance Minister has been presenting some economic data to Parliament, is that in 2018, our minister and the government had said to Parliament that the fiscal deficit was 3.9 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“The reason they said it was 3.9 per cent of GDP was that a key expenditure worth GH¢9.8 billion was excluded from the fiscal account, as they treated it below the line and that had to do with financial sector payment.
“The law says that anytime you reach six per cent, the vote of censure must happen and this law was assented by the President on December 28, 2018,” Dr Forson stated.
He added that if the GH¢9.8 billion was to be accounted for to include what was excluded and treated below the line, “the actual fiscal deficit for 2018 was 7.1 per cent of GDP, which clearly means that the censure motion in line with Section 4 of Act 982 triggers,” he said.
He added that in 2019, Mr Ofori-Atta informed Parliament that the fiscal deficit was 4.8 per cent of GDP, while excluding the financial sector payment of GH¢3.1 billion and energy payment of GH¢5.1 billion from the fiscal accounting.
“So if you are to factor in all of that, the fiscal deficit is actually 7.1 per cent of GDP, at a time when the fiscal rules had not been suspended, breaching sections 2 and 4 of Act 982,” he said.
On conflict of interest, he recalled what the minister told Parliament in answer to a question that his company, Databank Financial Services Limited, made GH¢159.3 million as book runners for bonds between 2017 and 2021.
Ken Ofori-Atta,the embattled Minister of Finance, was reportedly irritated by an attempt by some alleged investors – who in reality were members of Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s camp – to give him money as a gift.
According to a report, Tiger Eye P.I. investigators pretended to be investors looking to invest in Ghana, and thus needed to meet with the Finance Minister to discuss opportunities and other modalities of doing business in Ghana.
According to the report, the investigators had earlier met with Charles Adu Boahen, Ofori-Atta’s deputy back in 2018, in a hotel suite in United Araba Emirates, UAE, where the now dismissed Adu Boahen was given monies in lieu of helping the investors get access to among other Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia who allegedly took a US$200,000 ‘appearance fee’ to meet investors.
After meeting with them, they then proceeded to meet with Ofori-Atta briefly at the Dubai airport whiles he was on transit to Tokyo on an official assignment.
The report established that neither the minister nor his PA accepted the money gift from the Tiger Eye P.I. team leaving the minister irritated.
“They were to have their chance, they thought when after several attempts Mr. Ofori-Atta agreed to meet them at the airport in Dubai on transit to Tokyo, Japan,” Asaase radio reportage stated.
“In the company of his then Personal Assistant (PA), Michael Bediako, Mr. Ofori-Atta met the supposed investors (investigators) at the Dubai terminal hotel (Dubai International Airport) on 5 April 2018 at around 6:30 am.
“Mr. Ofori-Atta was informed the meeting was with the Chairman of Al Baraka Islamic Bank of Bahrain, whose interest was to invest $500m to set up an “ethical” bank in Ghana.
“The meeting, per our checks, lasted some five minutes. Ken Ofori-Atta left very irritated when he was offered a “gift”, which he refused to accept, and walked out with his PA who was also offered a gift that was rejected as well,” the report added.
Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ latest ‘Galamsey Economy’ exposed Charles Adu Boahen, the dismissed Minister of State at the Finance Ministry over an alleged corruption scandal.
Anas in a post on his Facebook timeline hours before the showing of the‘Galamsey Economy’ film noted that the minister made some shocking revelations to his team in a hotel in UAE, when they posed as possible investors to Ghana.
Adu Boahen among other things alleged that Bawumia will require about USD200,000 as an appearance fee from an investor to get his backing and influence in establishing a business in Ghana.
“You mean, like appearance fees and stuff?” the investigators asked, to which Adu Boahen responded: “I mean he, himself (the Vice President), if you give him some (USD) 200,000 or something as a token, as thank you, appreciation, that’s fine. He’s not really, he’s not really (like) that. All he needs is to worry about his campaign money in 2020.”
But Dr. Bawumia in a statement on Monday, November 14, denied the accusations and called for an investigation into the allegations.
Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu says Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta must be blamed for the current high cost of living in the country.
Prices of goods and services have been on the rise recently while transportation fares have also increased more than four times due to the increase in fuel prices.
The country’s inflation rate currently stands at 40.4%, a level not witnessed ever in the country.
According to Mr. Iddrisu the government, amidst all these developments, has failed to take measures to abate the current hardship. Thus, the Finance Minister should be held responsible.
The Tamale South MP said this when he appeared as a witness before the 8-member Adhoc Committee hearing the censure motion against the Finance Minister on Tuesday.
“There is a cost of living crisis in Ghana, exacerbated by uncontrolled inflation and we think that the Honourable Minister for Finance must be held responsible for that. We are saying that someone must accept responsibility.
“Chairman, when we say the cost of living and hardship, we are also concerned about the investments of persons associated with 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 responsible for that,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the Legal representative for Ken Ofori-Atta, Gabby Otchere-Darko has demanded evidence to back the Minority’s allegations against the Minister.
The lawyer wants the Minority legislators to provide particulars to support their specific claims.
This, he says, will enable his client better assess the allegations based on which his removal is being pushed for.
For Mr Otchere-Darko, if this is not done, it will give room to the petitioners ambushing the embattled Minister with questions that may be outside the scope of the probe.
“If we are not careful, there will be surprises at every turn of the proceedings,” he added.
Ato Forson abandoned his presentation on Ghana’s fiscal situation after the Chairperson made multiple “interjections.”
Ato Forson noted that instead of the government seeking fiscal consolidation, i.e., embarking on developmental projects, the government has only been engaged in frivolous expenditures that have elevated Ghana’s debt position.
He attributed the cedi’s depreciation to the unsustainable debt levels that have contributed to low investor confidence in the economy.
Ato therefore, said, “Instead of the government cutting down on frivolous expenditure such as the building of the National Cathedral and the size of government, they decided to go on overdraft.”
He also bemoaned KT Hammond’s constant interjections. The interaction went down as follows.
KT Hammond: We heard all of that, what we didn’t hear was the mention of COVID, the clash in the international world, we didn’t hear about the rise in the dollar, we didn’t hear anything of that nature.
Ato Forson: You have not allowed me to do my presentation,
KT Hammond: You have the whole time.
Ato Forson: You have been interjecting me every second.
KT Hammond: You have the whole time; it is to make sure that you have a free flow. I asked if you
Ato Forson: No because you keep interjecting.
KT Hammond: Oh Ato, since when did you become anxious about these things?
The censure motion is to probe Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta over his “non-performance,” after which the report will be sent to parliament for further consideration.
Charles Adu Boahen was fired from his job as Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance on November 14, 2022, which he had held since early 2021.
His termination was announced in a letter from the president, which cited his accusation in the investigative film “Galamsey Economy” produced by Tiger Eye PI, the company run by journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
His recent woes are allied to comments he made to investigators posing as investors who wanted access to big people in government. Adu Boahen reportedly boasted about his links to the Vice President and how a fee of US$200,000 could get his buy-in.
GhanaWeb footage of his vetting in 2017, captures how Adu Boahen boasted about his investment prowess only for him to travel to the United Arab Emirates in 2018 where he took monies intending to help investors get access to DR. Mahamudu Bawumia.
He told the vetting Committee: “Mr. Chairman, I have over 18 years of experience in the finance industry, fundraising, attracting investments into Ghana through my two companies, I think we have seen over 30 million dollars of investment into Ghana, both in real estate and in other activities.
“Asset management as well, so I think I can understand any of the capital markets, so, based on what my minister would like me to do, I believe I could add value….” he is heard stressing.
Charles Adu Boahen, Minister of State at the Finance Ministry was implicated in the ‘Galamsey Economy’ investigative documentary released by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas on November 14.
The now-dismissed minister was captured on tape making comments to the effect that access by investors to Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia could be facilitated at a cost of US$200,000.
Bawumia has dispelled the allegations and insisted that his integrity remains his most cherished asset in life.
“My most cherished asset in life is my integrity and I will not allow anyone to use my name to engage in corrupt activities,” Bawumia said in a post calling for the minister’s dismissal.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has since terminated Adu Boahen’s appointment and referred the contents of the investigation to the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
The now-former Minister of State with responsibility for Finance should not be confirmed in 2021, according to a number of arguments made by Isaac Adongo, the member of parliament for Bolgatanga Central.
One of the three consulting firms for government borrowing, Black Star Brokerage, was owned by Adu Boahen, according to Adongo.
He mentioned that Adu Boahen’s Black Star Brokerage and Ken Ofori-Atta’s Databank would be sharing the profits from the government’s borrowing.
He said this was the reason the country’s debt levels had skyrocketed since 2017, due to reckless borrowing.
In a video during a press conference in February 2021, he said: “The Ministry of Finance headed by Messers Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen just announced a list of primary dealers and introduced a new term called Bond Market Specialists. Interestingly, firms owned by these two personalities, Databank owned by Ken Ofori Atta, and Blackstar Brokerage Limited owned by Charles Adu Boahen have been selected as two of the three local investment advisory firms.”
He added: “the duo, Ken Ofori Atta and Charles Adu Boahen have thus literally awarded to themselves through their companies the lucrative contracts that involve managing Government’s borrowing program with an estimated Ghc60 billion a year gross financing. The fees to be shared by the transaction advisors of the Government borrowing program, including Ken Ofori Atta and Charles Adu Boahen’s companies, are estimated at Ghc210 million a year.”
Read the full article below
This press conference was during the vetting of Charles Adu Boahen as minister of state in February 2021. Hon Isaac Adongo made a strong case for him to be rejected by the Appointments committee of Parliament!
Please read the article and watch the video ????????
Hon Isaac Adongo unveils the “blood-sucking vampires” at the Ministry of Finance.
If you ever wondered why Ghana’s public debt has since 2017 been growing at an unexplained geometric sequence, the reasons are here:
Those in charge of the borrowing, stand to personally profit from the borrowing through the reward in fees to their companies who serve as their transportation advisors.
Whilst the corporate esteem of Ghana is on a nosedive and the future generations are being saddled with a debilitating debt, the worth of companies owned by persons at the forefront of the borrowing decisions keep soaring.
Appointment of Databank and Black Star Brokerage as Transaction Advisors to the Ministry of Finance is a deadly combination of Ken Ofori Atta and Charles Adu Boahen in Motion without shame.
The Ministry of Finance headed by Messers Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen just announced a list of primary dealers and introduced a new term called Bond Market Specialists. Interestingly, firms owned by these two personalities, Databank owned by Ken Ofori Atta and Blackstar Brokerage Limited owned by Charles Adu Boahen have been selected as two of the three local investment advisory firms.
The duo, Ken Ofori Atta and Charles Adu Boahen have thus literally awarded to themselves through their companies the lucrative contracts that involve managing Government’s borrowing program with an estimated Ghc60 billion a year gross financing. The fees to be shared by the transaction advisors of Government borrowing program, including Ken Ofori Atta and Charles Adu Boahen’s companies is estimated at Ghc210 million a year.
This is a clear conflict of interest. The Minister for Finance has made the government borrowing his private business and benefit each time Government borrows through Databank either as a bookrunner or Co-Manager of Eurobond issuance.
Ken Ofori Atta’s Databank has now been joined by Charles Adu Boahen’s Blackstar Brokerage Limited to share the spoils. The combination of this deadly team is set to further engage in reckless borrowing as evidenced in the more than doubling of Ghana’s public debt from Ghc120 billion at the beginning of 2017 to about Ghc300 billion by the end of 2020. In addition to the about Ghc180 billion increase in Ghana’s public debt, about Ghc70 billion of the end of 2016 debt of Ghc120 billion was refinanced and in some instances reprofiled between 2017 and 2020.
This means that a total of about Ghc250 billion Government borrowing program was carried out in the last four years with Ken Ofori Atta’s Databank acting as his transaction advisors. The accrued fees shared by the transaction advisors, including Databank is estimated at 0.35% of the borrowing program of Government. That is about Ghc875 million fees paid by Ghana to these transaction advisors.
No wonder Ghana is bleeding from excessive reckless borrowing without any meaningful benefits to the suffering taxpayers.
This harrowing public debt program was fested on Ghanaians when only Ken Ofori Atta’s Databank was involved. I am scared for Ghana when I think of Charles Adu Boahen’s Blackstar Brokerage now joining the fray to share the spoils. How big will the Government’s borrowing program be to ensure that Databank maintains its fees income from the last four years and leave some spoils for Charles Adu Boahen’s Blackstar Brokerage to help itself with?
Since they came to power, there is no bond transaction for government that the Minister didn’t benefit personally from through Databank and now Charles Adu Boahen through Blackstar Brokerage.
Charles Adu Boahen who sat and is expected to sit on the Board of Bank of Ghana where Databank and Blackstar Brokerage will be operating from as transaction advisors. He also sat and is expected to sit on the Governing Board of the Securities and Exchange Commission that regulates Databank and Blackstar Brokerage Limited. The bonds and other Government debts to be issued through these companies are also expected to be approved by Charles Adu Boahen sitting on the SEC.
As a matter of fact, any complaints relating to these companies would be directed at SEC on whose Governing Board sits Charles Adu Boahen and controlled by a former Vice President of Databank, Rev Ogbamey Tetteh who masterminded policy rollout that has collapsed the securities sector of Ghana.
Where lies the independence of the dealers and advisers to government on borrowing. Are decisions about borrowing and interest cost being made in the interest of Ghana or private businessmen? Sheer and crude profiteering at the expense of Ghanaians. Always promoting their firms and personal interests.
How do we protect against insider trading when the very people taking decisions on interest rates and bond structuring are themselves direct beneficiaries of the outcome of their decisions through their companies?
Ghana has been bleeding and I fear it will bleed even more with Ken Ofori Atta and Charles Adu Boahen now hand-holding the interests of Databank and Blackstar Brokerage.
According to Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, the member of parliament for Tamale Central, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has lost his credibility and is no longer taken seriously by Ghanaians.
Prior to the budget announcement for 2022, he made the remarks.
“Well, I don’t think many Ghanaians take my elder brother, Dr. Bawumia anymore,” he continued, “so whatever he says, I don’t think people take him seriously. The dollar is now a fugitive, and the cedi has lost great value, and we’ve never experienced this.”
• The Tamale Central MP wants government to show more action rather than words
• Murtala Mohammed bemoans the increasing cost of living
• He believes Ghanaians do not take the Vice President seriously
Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed has taken a swipe at Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia over his credibility.
According to the lawmaker, the Ghanaian populace does not pay credence to the Vice President as he is all about just using big jargon with little to nothing to show for it.
In an interaction with GhanaWeb ahead of the 2022 budget statement, the Tamale Central MP said, “Nothing positive will come out of the budget, this country is on its knees and this country is heading for disaster which is very clear. The finance minister will come and tell us economic jargon but what is important to the ordinary is a direct reflection of those long speeches. The conditions of life, petrol prices have increase umpteenth times and we’ve never experienced this and now the cedi is now a fugitive to the dollar.”
He further made reference to Dr. Bawumia’s past comments on the rate of borrowing, the cedi’s performance under the erstwhile John Dramani Mahama administration.
“Well, I do not think many Ghanaians take my senior brother, Dr. Bawumia seriously anymore and so whatever he says I do not think people take him seriously, the dollar is now a fugitive and cedi has lost its value tremendously and we’ve never experienced this”
He further lamented the increasing price for a bag of maize on the market which he says is currently selling at astronomical prices in his constituency.
Meanwhile, the sector Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is however expected to deliver the 2022 budget statement before Parliament on Wednesday November 17, 2021.
Ahead of the presentation, the Minority caucus of the House are demanding that government provides a detailed outline of its spending contained in the 2021 budget else they will teem efforts to disapprove the 2022 budget.
The presentation of the budget is in accordance with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution and section 21 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).
Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has asked the Minority caucus in Parliament to furnish him with documents that they will rely upon to execute the motion of censure initiated against him.
This is according to the Minister’s lawyer, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, who made the request on behalf of Ken Ofori-Atta on Tuesday morning when the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee commenced sitting to hear the motion.
Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko said the rules of natural justice and fair hearing required that the accused was not only heard but was furnished with the documents that formed the bases of the allegations made against him.
He, therefore, insisted that the Minority, led by its Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, provide the documents to him and his client.
The request was met with hesitance from the Minority, who appeared unprepared and insisted that the documents were already in the public domain and did not have to be tendered.
Following a debate on the matter, co-Chairs of the Committee K.T. Hammond and Dr Dominic Ayine, ruled that the Minority presented the documents to the finance minister and the committee.
The documents were then subsequently listed.
Below are the seven-points for which the Minority want Ofori-Atta censured:
a. 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
b. 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.
c. Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution.
d. Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament.
e. Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghana Cedi which is currently the worst-performing currency in the world
f. Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude, resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and an excruciating cost of living crisis.
g. Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship.
Ad hoc committee made up of eight people and appointed by Speaker of the House Alban Bagbin to look into the troubled Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta will begin meeting today, according to a committee member.
The North Tongu member of parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, announced on social media that sessions will be open to the public and live streamed.
He claims that doing so will eventually uphold accountability and openness.
“It’s an absolute delight to announce that the committee shall sit in public & all proceedings will be broadcast live in the true spirit of transparency & accountability,” his post read.
Speaker sets up ad hoc Committee over Ofori-Atta censure motion
Alban Bagbin, on Thursday, November 10 announced an ad hoc committee to probe allegations in a vote of censure motion against the embattled Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Their main task is to probe the seven allegations contained in the censure motion filed late last month by Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, which motion is seeking the removal of Ofori-Atta from office.
The committee is expected to submit a report within 7 days.
The composition of the committee is as follows:
It will be chaired by Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa, Kobina Tahir (K.T.) Hammond and the MP for Bolgatanga Dominic Akuritinga Ayine.
MP for Korle Klottey, Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings; and
MP for Akatsi South, Bernard Ahiafor.
From the Majority caucus, the members include:
MP for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Yaw Boamah;
MP for Asante-Akim Central, Michael Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi; and
MP for Sekondi, Andrew Kofi Agyapa Mercer.
How motion of censure against Ofori-Atta was argued
The Minority Leader filed a motion of censure late last month against Minister for Finance Ken Ofori-Atta.
The motion was duly admitted by Speaker Alban Bagbin and on November 10, the motion was moved by Haruna Iddrisu to trigger debate and a vote on same.
Speaker Bagbin, however, in his interpretation of the rules the Minority relied on referred the issue to an 8-member ad hoc committee formed to probe the Minority’s claims against the Finance Minister.
The committee co-chaired by Dominic Ayine (NDC) and KT Hammond (NPP) is expected to present their report in seven-days, following which the House will proceed with the censure process or otherwise.
Below are the seven-points for which the Minority want Ofori-Atta censured:
a. 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
b. 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.
c. Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution.
d. Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament
e. Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghana Cedi which is currently the worst-performing currency in the world
f. Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude, resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and an excruciating cost of living crisis
g. Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship
The Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and his Deputy John Kumah must also leave office immediately, a member of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) Bernard Mornah has said.
In his view, Mr Ofori-Atta is not the answer to the economic challenges facing Ghanaians.
“Investors don’t have confidence in the economy because of Ofori-Atta,” he said on the Big Issue on TV3 with Berla Mundi on Tuesday November 15.
He added ” John Kumah said they will not go to the IMF but today we are at the IMF.”
He was contributing to a discussion on the sacking of the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry Charles Adu Boahen.
President Akufo-Addo has sacked Mr Adu Boahen.
“The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has terminated the appointment of the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Charles Adu Boahen, with immediate effect.
“After being made aware of the allegations levelled against the Minister in the exposé, ‘Galamsey Economy’, the President spoke to Mr. Adu Boahen, after which he took the decision to terminate his appointment, and also to refer the matter to the Special Prosecutor for further investigations.
“The President thanked Mr. Adu Boahen for his strong services to his government since his appointment in 2017, and wished him well in his future endeavours,” a statement issued by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin said on Monday November 14.
The eight-member ad hoc committee set up by Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to probe embattled Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta will start sitting today, a member of the committee has announced.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu, in a social media post revealed that sittings will be public and also broadcast live.
According to him, doing so will ultimately be in the spirit of transparency and accountability.
“The Ken Ofori-Atta Vote of Censure Parliamentary Committee will commence sittings tomorrow 15/11/22 at 11 am.
“It’s an absolute delight to announce that the committee shall sit in public & all proceedings will be broadcast live in the true spirit of transparency & accountability,” his post read.
Speaker sets up ad hoc Committee over Ofori-Atta censure motion
Alban Bagbin, on Thursday, November 10 announced an ad hoc committee to probe allegations in a vote of censure motion against the embattled Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
The 8-member ad hoc committee was constituted with Members of Parliament elected by the leadership of both sides of the House.
Their main task is to probe the seven allegations contained in the censure motion filed late last month by Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, which motion is seeking the removal of Ofori-Atta from office.
The committee is expected to submit a report within 7 days.
The composition of the committee is as follows:
It will be chaired by Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa, Kobina Tahir (K.T.) Hammond and the MP for Bolgatanga Dominic Akuritinga Ayine.
The three members from the Minority side are:
MP for North Tongu; Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa;
MP for Korle Klottey, Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings; and
MP for Akatsi South, Bernard Ahiafor.
From the Majority caucus, the members include:
MP for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Yaw Boamah;
MP for Asante-Akim Central, Michael Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi; and
MP for Sekondi, Andrew Kofi Agyapa Mercer.
How motion of censure against Ofori-Atta was argued
The Minority Leader filed a motion of censure late last month against Minister for Finance Ken Ofori-Atta.
The motion was duly admitted by Speaker Alban Bagbin and on November 10, the motion was moved by Haruna Iddrisu to trigger debate and a vote on same.
Speaker Bagbin, however, in his interpretation of the rules the Minority relied on referred the issue to an 8-member ad hoc committee formed to probe the Minority’s claims against the Finance Minister.
The committee co-chaired by Dominic Ayine (NDC) and KT Hammond (NPP) is expected to present their report in seven-days, following which the House will proceed with the censure process or otherwise.
Below are the seven-points for which the Minority want Ofori-Atta censured:
a. 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
b. 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.
c. Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution.
d. Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament
e. Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghana Cedi which is currently the worst-performing currency in the world
f. Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude, resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and an excruciating cost of living crisis
g. Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship
Three minority MPs including the minority leader Haruna Iddrisu, Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak and the Ranking member on the finance committee Dr. Casiel Ato Forson are expected to appear before the ad-hoc committee set to probe the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta in the vote of censure motion.
The three MPs who are pushing for the dismissal of Ken Ofori Atta are convinced the sector has breached the law and is also responsible for the worse economic conditions in the country.
Co-chair of the committee KT Hammond in an interview hinted that the hearing of the committee will be made public to the media.
“We held a meeting [14th November, 2022] to discuss the modalities. We agreed at the meeting that the hearing will be public for all to see what transpires. We are confident we will do a thorough job so tomorrow(15th November 2022) bring your cameras and carry the hearing live,” Hammond told Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV.
A member of the committee also disclosed that the three minority MPs will appear before the committee with their testimony when they are called upon.
The formation of the Ad-hoc committee is to give the Finance Minister, an opportunity to respond to the allegations levelled against him in a vote of censure motion.
The Speaker, Alban Bagbin ruled for the formation of the ad hoc committee to allow the minister to appear before it possibly with his lawyer to defend himself.
According to the speaker, a lawyer/counsel for the minister is not allowed to perform his duty on the floor of the house unless at the committee level.
It is based on the outcome of the committee’s report that a decision would be taken.
This was after the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu earlier moved the motion on a vote of censure against the Minister.
New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Mpraeso Constituency, Davis Opoku Ansah, is calling for the resignation of finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta following the dismissal of the Minister of State for Finance, Charles Adu Boahen.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday, November 14, 2022, sacked Mr Adu Boahen hours ahead of the premiere of an investigative piece by Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
But reacting to the sacking in a Facebook post sighted by GhanaWeb, the Mpraeso MP who had recently joined some majority MPs to demand the sacking of Ofori-Atta and Adu Boahen, said the minister for finance must as well resign.
Borrowing and rephrasing a quote by Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the MP said the essence of the sacking will not be complete without the resignation of Ken Ofori-Atta.
“The sacking of Charles Adu Boahen is meaningless unless it is linked to the resignation of Ken Ofori-Atta and the total liberation of the finance ministry from data Bankers,” he wrote.
In a yet-to-be premiered expose by investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Charles Adu Boahen has been captured on tape making various implicating statements.
Among other things, the minister of state who was being recorded by undercover agents of Anas disguised as investors said they will need just $200,000 as an appearance fee for Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as well as positions for his siblings if they are to get the vice president’s backing and influence in establishing a business in Ghana.
Anas in a synopsis shared on social media hours before the premiere of the investigative piece dubbed Galamsey Economy said Adu Boahen, after having bundles of US dollars spread on a table in front of him and told to use them for shopping by the supposed business tycoon, promised to introduce the tycoon to the powers that be; the President, HE Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, and the Vice President, in Ghana.
Charles Adu Boahen has been one of the subjects of a public call for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to sack some of his ministers.
There are demands for the minister of state and his boss, Ken Ofori-Atta, to be sacked for their mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy and performance at the ministry.
The two ministers have been fingered by their critics for conflict of interest, favouritism and nepotism.
The likes of private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, have raised questions about Adu Boahen’s Black Star Brokerage and Ken Ofori-Atta’s Databank being chosen to deal in the sale of government bonds.
According to the critics, the situation reeks of conflict of interest as banks at the time of being chosen as by the Finance Ministry in 2017, had next to zero market share, were inexperienced relatively small as compared to the firms such as Barclays Bank and Stanbic Bank which were overlooked.
“Black Star Securities had next to zero market share at the time they were made part of this whole bond acquisition and sale process.
“I am daring the Finance Ministry, they should show us Black Star Security’s trading share in 2017. How did they qualify?
“Adu Boahen was walking here with a very small company in his armpit. The company was next to nothing, so, they should show. What are the statistics in 2017 at the time they came into office,” lawyer Martin Kpebu said and queried when he appeared as a guest on the August 20, 2022 edition of Joynewsfile.
According to the PIAC, the Finance Minister’s decision to cap the GSF at $100 million and use excess funds from the Fund for other emergency purposes is putting a strain on the Fund.
The objective of the Ghana Stabilization Fund is to cushion the impact on or sustain public expenditure capacity during periods of unanticipated petroleum revenue shortfalls.
However, PIAC disclosed that the decision by Ken Ofori-Atta to cap the fund at $100 million is taking a heavy toll on the fund.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the 2022 Semi-Annual Report on Petroleum Funds, the Chairman of the Public Affairs and Communications Sub-Committee at PIAC, Eric Defor, noted that if the country is hit with an unforeseen situation, there will be resources available to cushion the economy.
He further lamented that “the retention of the current cap of $100 million in the GSF for the year 2022 is not in accordance with the formula stipulated in L.I2381. A proper application of the formula would have returned a figure of US$460,633,074.02The Minister of Finance, in determining the cap on the GSF, should comply with the relevant provisions of L.I 2381.”
“It appears that for the past three years the $100 million cap has remained, and should there be another emergency, there will be no resources available in the fund to support the budget, and this we find a challenge,” he added.
Highlighting the impact of the cap, PIAC revealed that at the end of the first half of 2022, the fund generated only $373 million.
Describing the development as a threat to the economy, the committee, called on parliament to review the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, which gives power to the Minister of Finance to use discretionary powers to set the cap.
Steve Hanke, a professor of Applied Economics at the Johns Hopkins University and founder and co-director of the Institute for Applied Economics, is asking how the government of Ghana will be saving the country’s economy from collapsing.
According to him, it will not be prudent for Ken Ofori-Atta, the finance minister, to be fabricating the country’s numbers just to look good in the eyes of the international community and investors.
He tweeted that on his economic dashboard, Ghana’s inflation is now being measured at 158 per cent.
“Today, I measure #Ghana’s inflation at a stunning 158%/yr. What’s Finance Minister Ofori-Atta’s plan to save the economy? Will Ofori-Atta just fabricate the numbers? Apparently, he’s done that before,” Prof Hanke said.
The economist was commenting on claims by the minority that Ken Ofori-Atta since he was appointed the finance minister has been presenting inaccurate figures to Parliament.
Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, Asawase MP, while debating on the need for Parliament to pass a vote of censure on the finance minister indicated that “In 2018 he reported to this house that the fiscal deficit was 3.9% of GDP when he had to report to the World Bank the actual was 7.1% of GDP.
“In 2019, he reported that the fiscal deficit was 4.8% when the actual to be reported to the International Monetary Fund the actual was 7.1% to GDP.
“In 2022, he reported that the fiscal deficit was 11.7% of GDP when the actual was 17.2 %. In 2021 he reported 9.2% when the actual was 12.4%.”
The Minority Chief Whip was of the view that the finance minister has shown beyond doubt that he is not able to the finances of the country, thus must be removed.
“What are we waiting for, from this Minister before we will now believe the time has come for him to exit? I am reliably informed that he is part of the impediment that is not making us conclude the negotiations with the IMF,” Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka stressed.
Today, I measure #Ghana‘s inflation at a stunning 158%/yr. What’s Finance Minister Ofori-Atta’s plan to save the economy? Will Ofori-Atta just fabricate the numbers? Apparently, he’s done that before. https://t.co/0aoSccTto7
Opposition Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Samuel Nartey George, has slammed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo over his refusal to sack Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Speaking in a recent interview with Metro TV, lawmaker described the president as a stubborn person.
“The president sits on his ears so he doesn’t hear when we talk. If the president hears and listens, forget NDC, his own party is telling him to change Ken Ofori-Atta. The president, he doesn’t hear. His ears are decoration. The ears on his head they are decorations, he doesn’t use them to hear. Something is in the president’s ear and we will take those things out on the 7th of December,” he said.
“How can you be the president and the whole country is telling you to go in one direction, and you alone you say no? Why, is the country for you?” he questioned.
He further described President Akufo-Addo as an incompetent man with no knowledge on how to steer the affairs of the nation.
“The man is clueless, the man is incompetent, the man is fed up. The man has absolutely no idea. Sack your cousin who is destroying the country that one too has become a fight. I mean he is more interested in flying private jets and speaking cockerel accent but when it comes to the real job, he has no idea,” he stated.
President Akufo-Addo has been under pressure to sack his minister for finance amidst the nation’s rising inflation and economic hardship.
Members of parliament from the president’s New Patriotic Party have become the latest group calling for the minister to be axed from the government.
The minority in parliament made up of opposition members on Thursday, November 17, 2022, moved a motion for a vote of censure to be passed on the minister for finance.
The speaker after admitting the motion and rejecting a preliminary objection to the motion by the majority side has referred the motion to an 8-member ad hoc committee to investigate the motion and make recommendations to the house.
‘Akufo-Addo’s ears are for decoration, he doesn’t hear’ – Sammy George
According to him, the Finance Minister is not more important than the 30 million citizens suffering under the prevailing economic hardship in the country.
“The most important thing is that his policies are not working which is the more reason why the cedi has depreciated against the dollar in an unprecedented manner in the Fourth Republic. Where inflation finds itself and so on and so forth, all because of the depreciation of the cedi. So, if you look at that and still you hear people still defending the finance minister then I don’t really know the reason. Is it that the finance minister as a person is more important than the 30 million people in this country?” Mr. Asante asked.
Jonathan Asante bemoaned that the adamant action of the President is causing international investors to back out of the country leaving us in excruciating poverty.
“So, speculatively as long as you keep such a person there, the international investors do not have confidence. They want a new face, want a new direction, and see whether credibility-wise they will be able to generate some kind of restructuring that the government in his power will abide by. These are some of the basic things that the President ought to understand,” he said.
“It’s equally making people speculate, what is it that is binding the two of you, is it that you guys have been involved in some gruesome transaction? Is it also the case that the President is still owing the Finance Minister in terms of his political financing?
“See, all these speculative pieces are being put together as it were. This has come to create a damning image for your political legacy in the future. Such that the way and manner the President has conducted himself in office for the past few years. If he is not careful, he will come out as the worst ex-president that Ghana will ever have. He will be very miserable because I foresee a situation where the NPP is likely to lose this 2024 election, owing to some of these detriments on the part of the President and a finance minister without honor and principle.”
A letter from the Authority said, “We write to inform you that following discussions on various fora, it has been agreed that discount on some commodities currently being enjoyed should be reversed to achieve revenue effect.”
The items included sugar, (pasta, spaghetti, noodles, macaroni), palm oil – crude and refined oils, aluminum finished products (roofing sheets), toilet paper, facial tissue and towel, chocolate, portland cement, clinker, etc., and mosquito coil.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has announced that the implementation of the removal of benchmark values on some 32 categories of items, will begin from Monday, 15 November 2021.
A letter written to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to that effect dated 11 November 2021 and signed by Commissioner-General Rev. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, said: “We write to inform you that following discussions on various fora, it has been agreed that discount on some commodities currently being enjoyed should be reversed to achieve revenue effect”.
The items include sugar, (pasta, spaghetti, noodles, macaroni), palm oil – crude and refined oils, aluminium finished products (roofing sheets), toilet paper, facial tissue and towel, chocolate, portland cement, clinker etc., and mosquito coil.
The others are vehicles, ceramic tiles, aluminium products, cartons, boxes of paper, paperboard cases of corrugated paper, machete, water, soft (including mineral and aerated with sugar (including sweetened)), plastic – chapter 39, tile cement, textiles and textile articles, iron steel bars, rolls forged and structures, fruit juices, tomato paste & ketchup, cement paper bags, furniture and parts.
The rest are toilet soap, laundry bar soap, detergents – washing powder, lubricating oil, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks and carbonated drinks, flexible packing materials, biscuits/wafers, cigarettes, pharmaceuticals, machinery and equipment, plant.
Read the GRA’s letter below:
Removal of Benchmark Values on Selected Items Commences From November 15, 2021
Our letter on the “brief on the removal of the benchmark on selected items” dated September 27, 2021, refers.
We write to inform you that following discussions on various fora, it has been agreed that discount on some commodities currently being enjoyed should be reversed to achieve revenue effect.
To this end, November 15, 2021, is, therefore, slated for the effective date for the implementation of the removal of the benchmark values on some selected items.
Copy of the list is attached.
For ease of reference, a copy of the letter with reference CG/GRA/MOF/110/21 is also attached for your consideration.
We count much on your usual cooperation.
Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
Rev. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah
Commissioner-General
A few months ago, the President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association, Dr Joseph Obeng, warned that any intention by the government to scrap the 50% Benchmark Value at the ports “will be suicidal”.
In a press statement, Dr Obeng said: “Any attempt to remove this good policy of the government that brought relief will be suicidal for the state because it will not only collapse business but also cause an unbearable rise in prices of goods and services beyond the reach of consumers, especially, low-income earners and the unemployed”.
“No one has officially served Ken Ofori-Atta of what he has done for him to explain himself. In the midst of all these, he is not even in Ghana,” he told NEAT FM’s morning show, ‘Ghana Montie’.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, however, maintained that parliament will only ensure that due process is used if the Finance Minister will be dismissed.
The Minority Chief Whip in Parliament, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, has told the Members of Parliament on the majority side that their decision not to support the removal of the finance minister is something they will live to regret.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs have filed a motion in the House calling for a vote of censure against the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, over his poor performance in managing the economy.
Some weeks ago, 80 MPs from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), forming the majority in parliament, made an unprecedented move when they addressed a press conference, calling on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to sack the finance minister and his counterpart, the Minister of State in charge of Finance, Charles Adu Boahene.
The MPs explained at the time that the poor performance of their party member had caused a lot of hardships in the country, adversely affecting their constituents, and for this reason they wanted him out.
However, since then, the MPs have backed down a little after they had a meeting with the president.
But when he got up in parliament on Thursday, November 10, 2022, to second the motion moved by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, the Chief Whip, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, told his colleagues on the other side that it would be an error for them to turn their backs now.
“Our failure today to remove the finance minister will continue to hurt each and every one of us. It will continue to hurt our constituents. It will continue to hurt the economy, it will continue to hurt businesses; businesses are collapsing, ordinary citizens are now struggling to feed themselves.
“This is a responsibility for all of us and I just want to, Mr. Speaker, urge my colleagues, especially the ‘Rambo 80,’ to have at the back of their mind, ‘You have a reason for rebelling.’ You know this is a finance minister who doesn’t listen. You know the efforts that you’ve made severally to get him to do the right things and he refused. Those are the reasons that led you to rebel.
“I can assure you that if you backtrack, you will regret it because you know the kind of president and his family that you have: they will surely come after you,” he said.
The MP for Asawase further called on the NPP MPs to support their motion for the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta as the Minister of Finance so that they can, together, save the country from all the economic mess it is going through.
“It is better today; you help us to remove him. It will give you mileage, and it will make people believe you. All the rumour that was going round that people made an attempt to bribe you, today, you need to justify it. You need to prove to the world that you were never bribed, that you were never influenced,” he added.
Earlier, the NPP MPs, led by the Effiduase Asokore legislator, addressed a press briefing where they indicated that while they still hold the view that Ofori-Atta and his counterpart should go, they would not support the motion by their colleagues in the NDC for a vote of censure against him.
Only 522 of the candidates who took part in the 2022 entrance examination to enter the Ghana School of Law have reportedly passed.
According to a report by TV3, the number of students who passed represents less than 20 percent of the 2,654 people who took part in the examination.
Also, the report indicated that the 522 students who have gained admission to the law school fall short of the 800 the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, indicated have been budgeted for in the 2022 budget.
It will be recalled that in July 2022, the Independent Examinations Body, the body responsible for examinations at the Ghana School of Law, cancelled a Civil Procedure paper scheduled to be written on July 15, 2022.
According to an earlier report on GhanaWeb, the Independent Examinations Body canceled the paper over suspicions that the questions had leaked hours before they were to be administered.
A copy of the paper was said to have widely circulated across various social media platforms before the time it was scheduled to be written.
The 2022 law school entrance examination was cancelled for the second time after it was rescheduled to take place on Friday, September 23, 2022, after the exam papers allegedly leaked online.
According to a report on citinewsroom.com, the questions for the examination, which was scheduled for 10 a.m. on Friday, found their way onto social media.
The leader of the Minority Caucus of Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, has refuted assertions that the Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic are the cause of the hardships in the country.
According to Haruna Iddrisu, the only cause of Ghana’s economic challenges is Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta whose unbridled borrowing has led the country to this economic crisis.
“We are told that he did well and that we are told that we should blame COVID and Ukraine. Did we borrow to support Ukraine? You didn’t borrow to support Ukraine.
“And you want us to accept your reckless and irresponsible borrowing which has led us to where we are,” he said on the floor of Parliament while moving a vote of censure motion for the removal of Ofori-Atta.
Haruna Iddrisu, who is the Member of Parliament for Tamale South, said that the finance minister has borrowed so much that the country must restructure its debts in order to survive.
He intimated that Ghanaians should ignore the assurance given to them by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that they will not lose parts of their investment in government bonds and other investment portfolios because of the ongoing economic crisis.
“You are in a ditch. Mr. Speaker the Ghanaian economy is a ditch. Accept it or not, we may have to restructure our debt in order to sustain this economy in the next two, three years.
“I heard the president, Mr. Speaker, in the address to the nation say that there will be no haircut. There will be and there will be a barber of a sort, that barber may be ‘sika mpɛ dede’,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has referred a vote of censure motion filed by the Minority for the removal of Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to an 8-member ad hoc committee
The committee is expected to make a determination on the removal of Ofori-Atta within 7 days.
The speaker announced that the committee will be chaired by Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa, Kobina Tahir (K.T.) Hammond and the MP for Bolgatanga Dominic Akuritinga Ayine.
Alban Bagbin added that the determination of Ofori-Atta’s removal will be made in consultation with the leadership of the House.
The other Members of the committee from the minority caucus include the MP for North Tongu; Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa; MP for Korle Klottey, Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings; and MP for Akatsi South, Bernard Ahiafor.
The committee members from the majority caucus are MP for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Yaw Boamah; MP for Asante-Akim Central, Michael Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi; and MP for Sekondi, Andrew Kofi Agyapa Mercer.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, on Thursday, November 10 announced an ad hoc committee to probe allegations in a vote of censure motion against the embattled Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
The 8-member ad hoc committee was constituted with Members of Parliament elected by the leadership of both sides of the House.
Their main task is to probe the seven allegations contained in the censure motion filed late last month by Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, which motion is seeking the removal of Ofori-Atta from office.
The committee is expected to submit a report within 7 days.
The composition of the committee is as follows:
It will be chaired by Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa, Kobina Tahir (K.T.) Hammond and the MP for Bolgatanga Dominic Akuritinga Ayine.
The three members from the Minority side are:
MP for North Tongu; Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa;
MP for Korle Klottey, Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings; and
MP for Akatsi South, Bernard Ahiafor.
From the Majority caucus, the members include:
MP for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Yaw Boamah;
MP for Asante-Akim Central, Michael Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi; and
MP for Sekondi, Andrew Kofi Agyapa Mercer.
How motion of censure against Ofori-Atta was argued
The Minority Leader filed a motion of censure late last month against Minister for Finance Ken Ofori-Atta.
The motion was duly admitted by Speaker Alban Bagbin and on November 10, the motion was moved by Haruna Iddrisu to trigger debate and a vote on the same.
Speaker Bagbin, however, in his interpretation of the rules the Minority relied on referred the issue to an 8-member ad hoc committee formed to probe the Minority’s claims against the Finance Minister.
The committee co-chaired by Dominic Ayine (NDC) and KT Hammond (NPP) is expected to present their report in seven days, following which the House will proceed with the censure process or otherwise.
Below are the seven points for which the Minority want Ofori-Atta censured:
a. 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
b. 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.
c. Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution.
d. Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament
e. Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghana Cedi which is currently the worst-performing currency in the world
f. Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude, resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and an excruciating cost of living crisis
g. Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship
The Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin, sought to object to the motion when the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, moved it a few minutes to 2 p.m. on Thursday, September 10, 2022.
The motion hinged on Article 82 of the 1992 Constitution and, according to the minority, is influenced by issues such as the mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy by the minister.
Midway through the minority leader’s presentation, the deputy majority leader asked the speaker for permission to raise a preliminary objection to the motion.
However, his attempt was met with heckling from members on the minority side who shouted at the Deputy Majority Leader to “sit down.”
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, intervened immediately and caused the members of the house to take into consideration the importance of the exercise being undertaken.
The speaker implored the MPs to exercise decorum in the discharge of their mandate.
The speaker, however, refused the objection request by the deputy majority leader and granted the minority leader the opportunity to go ahead and move the motion.
Ningo Prampram, lawmaker Samuel Nartey George has called for the process to investigate the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta by the 8-member committee formed by the Speaker, to be transmited by live television.
Sam George called for this to be live on television given the huge public interest in this matter.
“Mr Speaker, I will like to call for the sittings to be televised live given the nature of the matter.”
The Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin on Thursday November 10 set a committee to investigate the allegations made against Mr Ofori-Atta by the Minority in Parliament for which they filed a motion to get him removed from office.
The 8-member committee, co-chaired by Dr Dominic Ayine and KT Hammond, lawmakers for Bolgatanga East and Adansi-Asokwa respectively, has within seven working days to complete its work and submit the report
The Speaker’s ruling came after the Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament Alexander Afenyo-Markin challenged the motion of the Minority on the basis that the Finance Minister will suffer injustice if the House goes ahead with the application.
Mr Afenyo-Markin indicated that the claims by the Minority were criminal in nature upon a proper scrutiny.
To that end, he called for a fair hearing for the Minister.
The Minority accused Mr Ofori-Atta of, among other things, personally benefitting from every loan that the government takes.
But the Effutu Member of Parliament said “these matters, upon a proper scrutiny, are criminal in nature. The Minister should be given a fair hearing.”
“If we go ahead with the application we will be doing a lot of injustice to our colleague. If this application is allowed it will be injustice and unfairness, the Minister wouldn’t have been given adequate time to prepare for his defense,” he stressed.
Justifying the motion to get the Finance Minister removed, the Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said President Akufo-Addo was not ready to sack the Minister.
Therefore, he appealed the Majority Members of Parliament to support the move to get him removed.
In his ruling on this matter, Speaker Bagbin said after announcing the formation of the committee that “The evidence will be placed before the committee. The Minister will have the opportunity to defend himself.
“A report will be presented to the House, and we will debate that report.”
An attempt by the majority in parliament to raise a preliminary objection against the motion for a vote of censure brought by the minority against Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has been rejected.
The minority, led by Haruna Iddrisu, moved the motion on Thursday, November 10, 2022, seeking to pass a vote of censure against the under-fire minister for finance.
Arguing against the motion after it was moved by the minority leader, Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said admitting the motion in the house would amount to injustice being dealt against the minister for finance.
“As it stands now, if this motion is allowed to proceed, it would amount to injustice in a sense that the minister wouldn’t be given enough time to prepare a defence,” the deputy majority leader said.
The majority, among other things, argued that the minister would be denied a fair trial and that the house would be overstepping its remit if it decided to go ahead and admit the motion.
However, ruling on the objection by the majority, Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin said the minister will duly be granted an opportunity to defend himself as part of the process in dealing with the motion.
The speaker further hinted that the motion will be referred to a committee of the house, upon whose recommendation the house will act.
The minority is asking, among other things, for the removal of the minister of finance over what they say is his mismanagement of the economy, leading to high cost of living, and inflation.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has ruled that an ad-hoc committee will be set up to probe the allegations for the motion of censure raised by the Minority Caucus against the embattled Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
According to the Speaker, setting up a committee will provide an opportunity for the Finance Minister to respond to issues of conflict of interest raised by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu.
“The evidence will be placed before the committee. The Minister will have the opportunity to defend himself. A report will be presented to the House, and we will debate that report,” the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin said.
Bagbin made the ruling after the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, moved the motion for the vote of censure against Mr Ofori-Atta on the Floor of the House on Thursday, November 10, 2022.
According to Haruna Iddrisu, the record inflation rate, the depreciation of the cedi, the excessive borrowing and the reckless spending and the failure to control fuel prices are clear indications that the Finance Minister is not fit to continue in his role.
The Tamale South MP added that “Ghana’s economy is currently in a ditch” and called on the Majority side of the House to join the motion to remove the Finance Minister to regain the confidence of investors and save the economy from total collapse.
But the call by the Minority Leader was turned down by the Majority side, with the Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin stating the call by the Minority Leader is in bad faith and not procedural.
According to him, issues raised by the Minority Leader border on criminality. He said Parliament cannot arrogate to itself judicial powers to try the Finance Minister, and called on the Speaker to allow Mr Ofori-Atta to defend before any decision is made.
The Majority MPs had earlier indicated their unwillingness to back the Minority’s vote of censure against the Finance Minister.
At a press conference held Thursday morning, the Majority group led by the MP for Effiduase/Asokore, Nana Ayew Afriyie said despite the fact that they still stand by their decision for the Finance Minister to be removed, they refuse to support the motion by the Minority.
“We are not going to support the course of the NDC this morning. The course of the NDC is premised on falsehood, propaganda and reasons which are not justifiable. Their position might look like ours, but ours is different,” Ayew Afriyie said.
The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Kodua Frimpong, has been spotted in parliament as the house considers a motion by the Members of Parliament on the opposition side for the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta as the Minister of Finance.
The National Democratic Congress MPs filed a motion in parliament on October 25, 2022, to be debated and voted on 14 days after its receipt by the Speaker of Parliament.
Upon the maturity of the period, the house is considering the motion moved by the NDC MPs, and they have hoped that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs would support their call.
This expectation is based on the fact that some weeks ago, some 80 NPP MPs took a historic stance when they called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to immediately sack Ken Ofori-Atta over his poor performance.
The MPs stated in their press conference that should the president fail to do this, they would begin boycotting government business in the house, including the reading of the 2023 budget statement and economic policy.
This call has since been placed on hold after the president met with the NPP MPs and urged them to give the Minister of Finance time to complete some pressing government business, including his IMF request.
But ahead of the hearing of the motion for a vote of censure against Ken Ofori-Atta, the General Secretary of the NPP, Justin Kodua Frimpong, wrote a letter to its MPs, directing them to stay away from the vote.
In the statement dated November 9, 2022, the national leadership said that “While the National Executive body acknowledges the prevailing socio-economic conditions in the country and the need for urgent remedial interventions, it is our utmost position that the demand of the NDC-led Minority Caucus is ill-intended and aimed at derailing government’s efforts at resolving current socio-economic upheavals.
“The leadership acknowledges that the Minister for Finance is the leader of government’s negotiation team with the International Monetary Fund. Considering that negotiation with the IMF is nearly completed, the National Executive body of the Party strongly believes that the removal of the lead person spearheading the negotiation may adversely impact the progress made thus far.”
On the day of the vote of censure, the NPP MPs, led by the MP for Effiduase-Asokore, Dr. Nana Ayew Afriye, stated in an interview that while they are bent on getting Ken Ofori-Atta out, they would not support the motion of the NDC MPs for a vote of censure against the minister.
“We are here to reiterate that, however much you heard us speaking that based on the intervention of the president, we will have to see the minister of finance do his work, read budget, see through appropriation and then the president will act.
“Over the days, we have heard the finance minister speaking and his speaking has influenced majority of us in the caucus, not only to state that we are back to the original position that we took, and that position is that the minister of finance must not be the one to read the budget, and must not be the one that would do the appropriation.
“We are here to tell you this morning that this will be very soon for you to see, the position of us and we are going to be positively defiant about that posture until that action is taken. However, we are not going to support the cause of the NDC in the chamber this morning.
The minority in parliament has officially moved a motion for a vote of censure to be passed on the minister for finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
The Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin, sought to object to the motion when the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, moved it a few minutes to 2 p.m. on Thursday, September 10, 2022.
The motion hinged on Article 82 of the 1992 Constitution and, according to the minority, is influenced by issues such as the mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy by the minister.
Midway through the minority leader’s presentation, the deputy majority leader asked the speaker for permission to raise a preliminary objection to the motion.
However, his attempt was met with heckling from members on the minority side who shouted at the Deputy Majority Leader to “sit down.”
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, intervened immediately and caused the members of the house to take into consideration the importance of the exercise being undertaken.
The speaker implored the MPs to exercise decorum in the discharge of their mandate.
The speaker, however, refused the objection request by the deputy majority leader and granted the minority leader the opportunity to go ahead and move the motion.
The Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) has introduced OPCL as the new majority shareholder of Ghana Bauxite Company (GBC) to the traditional leaders, Chiefs and people of Ahwiaso and Sefwi Bekwai in the Western North region.
OPCL, a wholly owned Ghanaian company in March 2022 acquired the total 80% shares in GBC, which was previously held by Chinese mining giant, Bosai Minerals Group Limited with the remainder 20% held by the Government of Ghana (GoG) following Bosai’s decision to pull out of operations and exit the country. GoG’s interest in GBC is held by GIADEC.
At a courtesy call, first on the President of the Western-North Regional House of Chiefs and Sefwi Ahwiaso Traditional Council, Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II, at his Palace in Sefwi Ahwiaso, the traditional leader, who doubles as President of the National House of Chiefs, commended GIADEC for ensuring a seamless transition from the old to the new managers of GBC which has led to the continuity of work without any break.
He was particularly thankful to the CEO of GIADEC, Mr. Michael Ansah for playing an instrumental role in ensuring that there were no job losses during the transitional phase as that was a major concern especially for the local workers.
Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II commended OPCL for taking up the management of GBC and urged them to ‘turn a new leaf’ in the operations of the company. According to him, the communities have not enjoyed any meaningful benefits especially during the administration of Bosai Minerals Group Limited and thus expects OPCL to do things differently.
He made a passionate appeal to OPCL and GIADEC to offer employment opportunities to the teeming youth in the area and keep the traditional council updated on major developments.
The team was welcomed by the Acting President of the Traditional Council, Katakyie Kwasi Afful who reiterated the need for OPCL not to neglect the community but see it as one of its key stakeholders.
He pledged his support and that of his people to the operations of GBC under the new management of OPCL adding that the success of GBC will bring massive developments to the communities that has eluded them for years.
Chief Executive Officer of GIADEC, Mr. Michael Ansah, expressed his gratitude to the traditional leaders for their continuous support to the Integrated Aluminium Industry (IAI) vision and assured them that he remains committed to the overriding goal of value addition.
He noted that GIADEC is working with the Government of Ghana and its new partner, OPCL, to stabilise the existing operations at Awaso. The new outlook for GBC, in the short to medium term, according to Mr. Ansah, is to ramp up production from 1 million tonnes per annum to 2 million per annum.
Touching on the role of OPCL in executing Project 1, one of four projects under the IAI, Mr. Ansah emphasized that GIADEC is currently assessing the capacity of OPCL to execute Project 1 which involves the expansion of the existing Awaso mine and building of a refinery.
On his part, the Executive Chairman of OPCL, Mr. Ofori Poku, was grateful to the traditional leaders for their endorsement and show of support. He assured them that GBC recognizes the traditional leaders and people in the communities as development partners and his visit is to rekindle and further strengthen the relationship existing between them.
The delegation from GIADEC included its Deputy CEO, Akwasi Osei-Adjei, Executive Assistant to the CEO, Kojo Yankah, Communications Manager, Sheriff Appiah, External Affairs and Sustainability Manager, Ernest Appiah, and Joseph Chibae Adjaho, member of the Communications team.
The delegation was also joined by Senior Executive Members of Ofori Poku Company Limited (OPCL).
He opined that the Minister had lost the people’s trust and that the best thing for him to do was to save his integrity by resigning.
Mr. Kotei stated on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm’s Frontline, “Ken Ofori-Atta should have resigned a long time ago. As of now, he has failed to propose any practical solutions to the economic crisis.”
“Your debt-to-GDP ratio has surpassed 100. It means that you do not have an economy. He is unwilling to go wandering around and waiting for the IMF to release the funds.”
He stated that the IMF is not Santa Claus and that they expect action from you.
“What actions do you plan to take in order for the IMF to take you seriously?”
Mr. Kotei emphasized that if the censure against him is successful, he will be politically harmed.
“If the censure against Ofori-Atta is successful, he will suffer political consequences. He is unwilling to leave, and the president is unwilling to fire him. So he’s just hanging around, hoping that the year will end and people will stop talking about him.”
He concluded by saying that despite the numerous loans we had obtained, nothing came from them because we used them for consumption.
He stated that the banking sector clean-up produced no results, the Ghana card exercise produced no results, the creation of new regions produced no results, and the flagship programs that cost us Ghc60 billion produced no positive results.
“You’ve lost control of the foreign exchange market, fuel prices are skyrocketing, and where would you get money to manage Ghana?” So it is best for Ofori-Atta to leave. I’m not sure why he’s still at the post, claiming to be negotiating.”
All is set in parliament for the house to vote on a censure motion tabled against the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
The house is yet to officially commence sitting for the day however the minority side which filed the motion seeking to remove the minister from office have filled their side of the chamber.
The majority side on the other hand have a handful of their members in the chamber while others have been seen within the precents of the house.
Ahead of the commencement of sitting, members of the minority group have been captured in a meeting which took place on the floor of the chamber.
The minority members briefly stopped their chit-chat as they gathered around their leader, Haruna Iddrisu.
The minority leader in the brief meeting was seen ostensibly outlining the caucus’ strategy to the members who listened with rapt attention.
Meanwhile, the majority group in an earlier press conference have hinted of their plans to boycott the voting process.
According to the majority, even though they support the call for the minister’s resignation, the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta should be on their terms.
“We are here to reiterate that, however much you heard us speaking that based on the intervention of the president, we will have to see the minister of finance do his work, read budget, see through appropriation and then the president will act.
“Over the days, we have heard the finance minister speaking and his speaking has influenced majority of us in the caucus, not only to state that we are back to the original position that we took, and that position is that the minister of finance must not be the one to read the budget, and must not be the one that would do the appropriation.
“We are here to tell you this morning that this will be very soon for you to see, the position of us and we are going to be positively defiant about that posture until that action is taken. However, we are not going to support the cause of the NDC in the chamber this morning.
“The cause of the NDC is premised on falsehood, propaganda and reasons that are not justifiable. Their position might look like ours but is not the same.”
This comes following a decision by some 80 MPs to call for the sacking of the Finance Minister.
The group of New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament petitioned president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during a presser on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, to sack the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the Minister of State at the finance ministry, Adu Boahen, to restore public confidence in the economy.”
The group said it will not do business with government nor support the 2023 Budget if the president fails to heed their calls.
According to them, the move follows previous concerns sent to the government that have not yielded any positive results.
Akufo-Addo’s meeting with NPP MPs and Vote of censure:
A meeting with the president following the demands by the NPP MPs meant that they had to stand down their request on two conditions.
The conditions included that Ofori-Atta is allowed to conclude the current phase of financial support negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and also to present the 2023 budget and see to the passage of the appropriation bill before their removal request will be acted upon.
It was on the same day that the Minority Caucus filed a censure. Their leader, Haruna Iddrisu assured the House days ago that the Minority Caucus he leads in Parliament will fully pursue a censure vote initiated against Ofori-Atta.
Speaking on the floor of the House on Tuesday, November 1, 2022; Haruna reiterated having issued a nine-line whip for members of his caucus when the day of voting comes, affirming that he will move the motion before November 10.
Haruna Iddrisu, after confirming that the motion will be filed also called on MPs in the Majority to join them to remove Ofori-Atta.
“I will move the motion for the censure of the Minister for Finance, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta. Those like-minded persons who will dance with us, Mr. Speaker, they will be welcomed in the secret ballots,” Haruna stressed.
Voting today:
Parliament will require a vote with 2/3rd of MPs to decide the fate of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
With the current stance of the group from the Majority Caucus, it remains unclear what the outcome of this vote of censure will be.
