Ofori-Atta Stays As Finance Minister After Parliament Fails First Ever Vote of Censure

• A move by the Minority in Parliament to revoke the appointment of Ken Ofori-Atta over incompetence and other grounds failed on Thursday, December 8, 2022
• The Minority voted in their numbers to secure the required 183 votes but they did not get just 50 votes from the Majority to make the motion a success
• The Majority walked out of the House just as the secret ballot was about to be taken on Thursday

Ghana’s Parliament could not make history by voting to revoke the appointment of an appointee of a sitting president.

Ken Ofori-Atta’s appointment as finance minister could not be revoked through secret vote by Members of Parliament on Thursday, December 8, 2022.

Parliament needed only 183 votes from the 275 members of Parliament but only 136 legislators voted to support the motion filed by the Minority.

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The vote of censure was triggered by the Minority when they filed a motion in October 2022, but it was unable to revoke the finance minister's appointment.

The Minority voted in their numbers, but an abstention by the Majority caused the motion to fail.

“Despicable Conflict of Interest” And 6 Other Reasons Why Minority Wanted Finance Minister's Appointment Revoked

YEN.com.gh reported in a previous story that the Minority submitted seven grounds to justify their call for Ofori-Atta's appointment to be revoked.

They accused the minister of withdrawing money from the Consolidated Fund unconstitutionally.

Many Ghanaians expected a secret vote on Thursday to remove because of a groundswell of public support for him to step down.

He has been blamed for the current economic crisis Ghana has been plunged although he blames Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war. Many economists and academics disagree with him. They say he was particularly reckless in his borrowing.

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Two-thirds of the number of MPs' vote was need to pass the vote of censure against the minister.

These Are The Grounds The Minority Cited for Ofori-Atta's Dismissal:

1. Despicable conflict of Interest ensuring that he directly benefits from Ghana's economic woes as his companies receive commissions and other unethical contractual advantage particularly from Ghana's debt overhang;

2. 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;

3. Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution;

4. Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament

5. Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghana Cedi which is currently the worst performing currency in the world;

6. Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and on excruciating cost of living crisis;

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7. Gross mismanagement of the economy which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship.

Source: YEN.com.gh