All the Members of Parliament on the Minority side are signatories to a motion for a vote of censure on Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister, filed on Monday. The Minority cites the overall mismanagement of the economy and ethical concerns, among others.
The motion was filed a day before Parliament resumed from recess. Parliament has been on recess for the past three months, as the economic crisis intensified amid Ghana’s pursuit of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal.
The grounds the Minority cites for the vote of censure are the:
- 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.
- 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:
- Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution:
- 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:
- Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude, resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and an excruciating cost of living crisis;
- Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which as occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship
The ongoing crisis has seen inflation reach 37.2 percent and the cedi tagged as the worst-performing currency in 2022 with it trading at around GH¢14 to a dollar.
The motion was filed a day before a group of Majority MPs also came out asking for the removal of the Finance Minister as well as the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.
Previous calls for the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta have been rebuffed by President Akufo-Addo, who said he would continue to back Mr. Ofori-Atta.