Audio By Carbonatix
Ranking Member on Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee has served a notice that the Minority will move a vote of censure to remove the Finance Minister from office.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says nothing will stop his side of the House unless Ken Ofori-Atta appears on the Floor to answer questions about the President's foreign travels in May.
In an internal memo to the Chairman of Parliament’s Business Committee and Majority Leader, Kyei Mensah Bonsu, intercepted by Joy News, Mr Ablakwa described Mr Ofori-Atta's delay in responding to the urgent question as offensive.
The Finance Minister was summoned to respond to the question on June 7, but he communicated to the House that he needed more time to put the details together.
The standing orders of Parliament is categorical that urgent questions should be responded to within 10 working days, which have elapsed. Accordingly, the question is yet to be tabled again.
The Minority claims the presidency hired a luxurious jet at about ¢3 million for the trips to South Africa, France and Belgium. However, government denies this.
The Finance Minister is expected to clarify the figures when he appears.
The North Tongu MP is concerned that Parliament seems to be creating a super Minister of Mr Ofori-Atta and questioned why the House has given him the latitude to respond to the question in his own time.
“May I humbly serve notice that if the current contumelious hijack of Parliament by the Minister is allowed to fester, a good number of my colleagues and I will not hesitate to exercise our mandate under Article 82(2)(b) of the Constitution to initiate a vote of censure on the Minister,” Mr Ablakwa wrote in the memo.
“The entire Parliament of Ghana cannot be reduced to a puppet institution that works according to the dictates and the pleasure of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta. In any case, what can be so complex about computing bills already paid?
“The Busines Committee of Parliament must not be seen to be condoning this unacceptable conduct of the Finance Minister, which ought to be seen as a grave affront to Parliament,” he added.
Latest Stories
-
Poor maintenance, not poor engineering alone, is driving Accra’s flooding – Engineer
2 minutes -
BoG calls for industry-wide system to fight fraud across banks, fintechs and mobile money platforms
4 minutes -
Flood-damaged Aflao Market road prompts temporary intervention as calls grow for permanent fix
16 minutes -
Recurring floods expose growing humanitarian crisis in Agbozume as hundreds receive emergency relief
23 minutes -
Margins delivers first GAM ID – President Barrow is inaugural recipient
32 minutes -
Drug Abuse and Ghana’s Human Security Crisis: The silent destruction of a generation’s potential
58 minutes -
Floods ravaged Ghana could generate GH¢556 in economic benefits for every GH¢1 invested in sanitation
1 hour -
Digital payments can formalise Ghana’s informal economy, but fraud threatens uptake – Economist
1 hour -
Gov’t pays $700m Eurobond bill ahead of schedule, total hits $2.1bn
1 hour -
‘Suspend it now’ – FABAG appeals directly to Mahama to halt new import verification programme
2 hours -
Gov’t cannot talk ease of doing business while adding more costs – FABAG rejects Ghana Easy Pass
2 hours -
You cannot threaten people into silence about their own history
2 hours -
‘This is another tax by another name’ – FABAG warns new import rules will push up prices
2 hours -
BoG injects $2.01bn into forex market as cedi records first monthly gain of 2026
2 hours -
Ghana congratulates U.S. on 250th Independence Anniversary
2 hours