I am not surprised that Finance Minister was not censured – Political Risk Analyst
A political risk analyst and economist, Dr. Theo Acheampong has said he is not surprised that the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has not been censured.
According to him, the whole censure process was a sham.
“You could see that the whole process became a political charade where it was more like trying to score points, but also safeguard or protect sometimes even the Finance Minister himself. So I am not surprised and I’m sure many Ghanaians are not surprised that at the end of the day, the Finance Minister has not been censured,” he said on JoyNews’ Newsfile, Saturday.
Dr. Acheampong’s comment comes on the back of the Minority in Parliament’s failure to remove Mr Ofori-Atta from office through censure motion.
The motion, which was debated on Thursday and subsequently voted on, had only the Minority members being present to vote.
Majority in Parliament walked out of the House, arguing that the position of the Minority in censuring the Finance Minister does not align with theirs.
Majority washed their hands off the motion in a typical Pontious Pilate fashion and staged a walk-out, leaving the Minority alone to carry out the process.
In effect, the required votes to censure the minister were not attained.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile, on Saturday, Dr. Acheampong shared that he has been one of the many people calling for the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta. According to him, his position is based on policy grounds.
The analyst said regardless of the failure to censure the Minister, his position has become “untenable” and as a result, he should either “resign or be fired”. He said many Ghanaians share the same opinion.
According to Dr. Acheampong, Ken Ofori-Atta is not “really” needed regardless of pending International Monetary Fund (IMF) negotiations.
He argued that “there are other people in and around the government and within the Ministry that can equally lead the negotiation process with the IMF and bring us to an objective conclusion that safeguards the interest of Ghana.”
Meanwhile, the minister would continue to lead the IMF negotiations.
Source: Ghana News
