Failure to remove Finance Minister will hurt economy – Muntaka
The Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed – Mubarak Muntaka has emphasized that the inability of Parliament to support the motion of censure against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta will “hurt the economy” given that he has failed to live up to expectations.
Contributing to the motion on the vote of censure against Mr. Ofori-Atta, on the floor of the house on Thursday, Hon. Muntaka who is the Member of Parliament for Asawase told parliament, “If the Finance Minister is removed, the budget of the country will not collapse, our failure to remove him [Ofori-Atta] will hurt the economy.”
He added that the finance minister remains part of the impediments that is preventing an expedited process of the IMF negotiations and reckons that the “time for him to exit is now”.
According to him, should the Majority side of the house join their bid to remove the finance minister, it will breed new confidence and engender belief among the populace.
“The excuse that he should complete the IMF negotiations, present the budget, appropriation – you and I know Mr. Speaker that the budget of the country are prepared by technical people and even last year, the Majority Leader presented it when [Finance Minister] was not around. So, the budget will not collapse if he is removed, so there are equally competent people who will take the mantle. Our failure to remove the finance minister will hurt everyone, businesses, our constituents, this is a responsibility for all of us.”
The motion of censure was filed last week Monday by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, for the removal of the finance minister.
The motion is embedded with a seven-point allegation as grounds for the removal of the minister.
Among the seven-point allegations embedded in the motion are a despicable conflict of interest ensuring that the minister directly benefits from Ghana’s economic woes as his companies receive commissions and other unethical contractual advantage, particularly from Ghana’s debt overhang.
In addition, the motion alleged an unconstitutional withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund in blatant contravention of Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution supposedly for the construction of the National Cathedral.
Moreover, illegal payment of oil revenue into offshore accounts in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the1992 Constitution.
Majority’s objection
Since the motion was filed, the Majority in Parliament has raised a preliminary objection on the motion of censure, saying the full facts needed to be made available to the minister in order not to spring surprises on him.
The Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, who raised the objection, said the manner in which the motion was crafted was unfair to Mr Ofori-Atta, insisting that the full facts needed to be made available to him in order for him to properly appreciate the facts and respond appropriately.
Article 82
According to Article 82 of the 1992 Constitution, Parliament may, by solution supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of Parliament, pass a vote of censure on a Minister of State.
A motion for the resolution referred to in clause (1) of this article shall not be moved in Parliament unless-seven days’ notice has been given of the motion; and the notice for the motion has been signed by not less than one-third of all the members of Parliament.
