Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, will proceed to court to squash a report by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), which has formed the basis for a fresh demand for his resignation or sacking.

The CHRAJ reports faults Ken Ofori-Atta for not fully declaring his assets in accordance with Public Office Holders (Declaration Of Assets And Disqualification) Act - 1998 (Act 550).

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) who are the Minority in Parliament also says the CHRAJ report faults the Minister for constitutional, statutory and regulatory breaches when he went to raise $2.5billion on the international market last April.

The Minority has given the Finance Minister 14-days to resign or else the NDC MPs will trigger a parliamentary procedure to have him removed from office.

The Minority believe the CHRAJ report is a vindicating breakthrough after more than 11-months of pushing for the Minister's resignation.

Photo: The Minority leadership

But government information machinery has risen up to this fresh assault on the Finance Minister to pick issues with the CHRAJ report.

Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, says CHRAJ did more than it was asked to do when it declared the Finance Minister did not fully declare his assets.

He said for the anti-graft body to conclude that his assets in Databank and other securities were not fully declared is a travesty of justice because CHRAJ never invited the Minister to explain the information he provided on his asset declaration forms.

Mustapha Hamid claimed he has seen the Finance Minister's asset declaration forms and it includes his interests in Databank and other securities.

For failing the "test of natural justice" by not inviting the Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta will go to court "immediately", he vowed.

CHRAJ was asked to determine a case of conflict of interest in the $2.5bn bond issuance.

The NDC has claimed that the issuance of the money-raising instrument was done to favour an investment firm,  the Franklin Templeton (FT) group because one of the FT directors has ties to the Finance Minister.

The Franklin Templeton group bought over 95% of the 15-year bonds.

Photo: Mr. Trevor Trefgarne

The CHRAJ report concluded that; “the Finance Minister’s extensive interests in the securities market through shareholding in several companies that operate within the sector, some of whom were contacted by the Bookrunners on this particular bond, always raises the potential for conflict of interests.”

While the NDC feels vindicated by this statement, the Information Minister is unhappy that CHRAJ went beyond the charge of conflict of interests to delve into how bonds are issued and determined breaches.

Mustapha Hamid insists that this work is the responsibility of the Securities and Exchange Commission as granted under Act 929 Securities Industry Act.

"CHRAJ went beyond the matter of conflict of interest to make pronouncements on other matters it was not seized with the capacity to makem" the Information Minister is convinced.

He said this foraging into "extraneous matters"  has given the NDC "ammunition" for a "new round of attacks" on the Finance Minister, one of the President's prized assets in his government.

Mustapha praised Ken Ofori-Atta for his ingenuity in raising the $2.5bn bond which he said allowed Ghana to reprofile her debts.

He said Ghana saved about 600 million cedis which would have been used to pay interests on loans. The sale of $2.5bn bond was hailed as the single biggest daily transaction in the whole of the sub-Saharan Africa region.

The Minister deserves praise and not become a prey for the NDC, he suggested.

The Countdown

For the NDC, the countdown to the Finance Minister's resignation has begun. But they would have to count on the support of some New Patriotic Party MPs if they are to succeed in passing a censorship motion in Parliament against the Minister.

The motion would need at least 77 more NPP MPs to get the needed super-majority to pass.

But already, the NDC has been told, not to count on any support from the NPP in Parliament to remove a man they say has been trusted to deal with the former government's mess.

Photo: Ken Ofori-Atta enjoys the respect of the NPP MPs in Parliament