A stalwart of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has criticised the party’s MPs who staged a walkout during the vote on the censure motion against Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

On Thursday, the NPP MPs walked out of the chamber minutes before the vote on the censure motion could be taken, and Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu who led the walkout, said “…. Like Pontius Pilate, we will wash our hands off this,” while a colleague sprayed sanitiser on his hands.

But reacting to the conduct of the NPP MPs, Dr. Arthur Kennedy described their action as an insult to Jesus Christ.

He explained that, unlike the MPs, Pontius Pilate in the Holy Bible was innocent and washed his hands off an innocent soul, Jesus Christ who was about to be killed.

According to him, the MPs in this case, were not washing their hands off any innocent conduct by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, therefore their conduct was disrespectful to Jesus Christ.

“They washed their hands 'like Pontius Pilate' and in doing that they really insulted Jesus. You know Ken is a person of faith so I know he knows this.

“Pontius Pilate was innocent, he has not done anything so Pontius Pilate was washing his hands off an innocent man, Jesus was innocent and he believes these people were going to kill an innocent man.

“To say that the Finance Minister 'is innocent' is a little bit of stretching the facts,” he told Samson Anyenini on Newsfile, Saturday.

Touching on the claim by the Minority that the Finance Minister has used some monies from the Contingency Fund for the National Cathedral, Arthur Kennedy said Jesus Christ would have been furious with the Minister if he were to be on earth.

He defended his view by referencing a bible quotation that reads “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me.”

He explained that Jesus’ anger would have stemmed from the fact that the contingency fund is meant to support Ghanaians in the many areas the country is lacking and not for the construction of a National Cathedral.

“If Jesus was sitting on this table, he would be against it…people will look at the schools you show, look at mothers who deliver and bleed to death, look at ambulances that have no fuel, look at health facilities that we cannot support and then the people who have been put in charge of this country to do God’s work here on earth will decide that they want a cathedral that people who cannot feed themselves, who cannot heal themselves, cannot clothe themselves, can go and praise God. What kind of God will do that?” he quizzed.