The Member of Parliament (MP) for Subin Constituency in the Ashanti Region Hon. Eugene Boakye Antwi has described as sycophants and populists persons backing the continuous stay in office of finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
He chided members of his own party who see nothing wrong with the stay of the Finance Minister indicating that they are rather killing the party.
“Members of the NPP who see nothing wrong with the continuous stay in the Finance Minister are sycophants and populists and are killing us”, he lashed out in a live radio interview, adding that Mr Ken Ofori-Atta’s stay is not good for the country’s economy.
In an interview with Angel FM in Kumasi, the lawmaker stated that he still stands by the position that Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta should be removed but if the President fails to do that there is nothing he can do because he does not have the capacity.
“I do not appoint, the president appoints and disappoints so if the President says Ken Ofori-Atta is the best man we all live in this country to see; country broke or no country broke, we all dey inside”, he said.
Mr Eugene Antwi’s statement comes after some Members of Parliament(MPs) recently rekindled the demand for President Akufo-Addo to sack the Finance Minister Mr Ken Ofori-Atta claiming he is underperforming.
Some NPP MPs numbering about 80 last year called for the sacking of Ken Ofori-Atta as Finance Minister.
One of the key cards the MPs spoke about was “If their request was not responded to positively, they will not be present for the approval of the 2023 budget which will be pivotal to expenditure, especially at a time when government finances were in limbo.
However, President Akufo-Addo in his response requested that he will sack the minister once the deal with the IMF is done. After the IMF deal, however, the Finance Minister is still at post.
But Mr Eugene Antwi in his interview with Angel FM explained that the move by the majority was to address the public on their demand, hence the removal of the Finance Minister was not to go against the president or the cabinet but rather in the interest of the public.
“We had to make them understand that the continuous stay of Ken Ofori-Atta was not to our benefit”, he told Kwame Tanko on the show “Angel In The Morning”.
The MP further stated categorically that, he hasn’t changed his position on their demand for Ken’s removal but if the President hasn’t taken any action, he personally cannot do anything about it.
“There are three major markets in my constituency so if these traders come to me and tell me their problems I have to act on it”, he said.