2023 Budget: Ofori-Atta Will Address An Empty Chamber If He Doesn’t Resign – NPP MP

New Patriotic Member of Parliament for Bortianor-Ngleshie Amanfro, Sylvester Matthew Tetteh, has accused Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta of acting in bad faith after the president pleaded with the majority in parliament to step down on calls for his dismissal.

According to the majority member of parliament, comments made by the minister after they heeded the president’s request for time can affect the president’s plea.

“But when the finance minister, after this, goes public and starts making such public statements, we don’t know the challenges he’s gone through… I mean, these are comments in bad taste, and that is what I am saying, from where I sit, the signals I am picking, such comments, if it is not checked, will go down on the president’s plea,” he stated on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, edition of Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV.

“We had a meeting, and the president had made a plea; the majority caucus had taken that plea in good faith and to have gone through a process the president had asked. One party, in this case, should not go to town. It’s not good,” he added.

He hinted that the caucus would likely take action, such as boycotting the minister’s upcoming budget presentation in parliament, if his utterances are not checked.

“Events after and the subsequent pronouncements by the minister, the signals I am picking, if they don’t address it, he will come to the house to meet an empty chamber,” he stated.

Following an open call by about 80 majority MPs for the sack of Ken Ofori-Atta, President Akufo-Addo convened a meeting with the caucus where he is said to have made some pleas.

According to reports, the president asked the caucus to give the minister some time to conclude the government’s ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the presentation of the 2023 budget in parliament.

But responding to the calls for his sacking, Mr Ofori-Atta, in a recent engagement with the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), said he rather remains focused on helping the country overcome the current economic challenges despite the pains he has gone through being the minister.

“You have a finance minister who has gone through all the pains and aches, and nobody can really come and say, ‘we don’t understand what we’re doing’,” he stated.