Director of Legal Affairs of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Abraham Amaliba has said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament who indicated they were not going to support the Minority to vote against the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta failed Ghanaians.
In his view, the pressure mounted by the Minority was a constitutional pressure which should have been backed by the NPP lawmakers therefore, the Majority failed to allow the Constitution to remove the Finance Minister from Office.
Speaking on the Big Issue with Roland Walker on TV3 Friday November 11, Mr Amaliba said “They had the opportunity yesterday to allow constitutional pressure which will still yield the result but they failed. Their turn around, for me, is purely political, they don’t want to be seen joining NDC to engage in the censure of the Minister.”
But a Deputy Communications Director of the NPP, Abdul Kamal Deen disagreed with him.
Speaking on the same show he said “I am happy we are running a democracy that seems to be growing. I have commended Members of Parliament on the NPP side for the step they took the last time, it tells us that it is not just about inter-party but intra-party could also present divergent views on a particular norm. That of course, builds our democracy and makes or democracy stronger.”
He added “Inasmuch as they held a press conference and demanded for the removal of the Finance Minister, the Minority’s position on invoking Article 82 of the Constitution to censure the Finance Minister has not been backed by our MPs.
“Others say it is a deviation or a U-Turn but I disagree. They made a demand and having made the demand, bear in mind the appointing authority per our constitution is the President. They made the appeal to the president, and the President invited them into a meeting…invited the leadership of the party as well and they had a discussion on the press conference held by the MPs. The discussions actually allowed cool heads to prevail, the President made an appeal to them.”
The NPP Members of Parliament who earlier called for the the removal of Mr Ofori-Atta said that their position on the Minister is not the same as the position taken by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Our position on Ofori-Atta is not the same as that of NDC’s; we won’t support them – NPP MPs#KenMustGo #TV3NewDay pic.twitter.com/VMVCfMauXy
— #TV3@25 (@tv3_ghana) November 10, 2022
The NPP Members of Parliament who earlier called for the the removal of Mr Ofori-Atta said that their position on the Minister is not the same as the position taken by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Member of Parliament for Effiduase/Asokore, Nana Ayew Afriyie said at a press conference in Parliament on Thursday November 10 that they believe that the Finance Minister’s confidence in managing the economic crisis is down hence, the should not be the one to present the 2023 budget statement.
That is different from the position of the NDC MPs who have impugned criminality against the Finance Minister.
“Their position is full of falsehoods, propaganda and their reasons are not justifiable,” he said.
He added “we are not going to support the cause of NDC in the chamber.”
After proceedings in Parliament on Thursday November 10, the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin set a committee to investigate the allegations made against the Finance Minister 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.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana