Ken Ofori-Atta Lands May Not Present 2023 Budget; Reason Stated

Alfred Ogbamey, a member of the National Democratic Congress, says that Ken Ofori-Atta could be out of his job by next week.

He said that Ken Ofori-Atta is likely to step down sooner than expected because the Majority has been making trouble in Parliament recently and the Minority has filed a motion of censure against the Minister.

“Well, I’ve heard that the Minister of Finance might not be around. If what I’ve heard is true, he may not be around next week. They were looking at the end of November, but “given the position of his own MPs and the Minority, it is very unlikely that he will present the budget,” he said on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday.

Earlier, the majority of MPs in Parliament had said that they would not read the budget for 2023 if Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta was not fired.

At a press conference, the NPP lawmakers said that they were unhappy with how Ken Ofori-Atta was running the economy.

So, the MPs have signed a petition asking the President to fire Ken Ofori-Atta, who is his cousin.

“We told the President how worried we were through the leaders of Parliament and the leaders of the party, but we didn’t get a good answer.

Andy Appiah-Kubi, MP for Asante Akim North, said, “We are strongly urging the President to change the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry as soon as possible in order to restore hope in the financial sector and stop the slowing growth of the economy.”

The lawmaker went on to say, “In the meantime, we want to give notice, and notice is given here, that until these people are forced to resign or are removed from office, we members of the Majority Caucus here in Parliament will not take part in any government business done by or for the President or any other minister.”

After the Presidency and officials from the New Patriotic Party got involved, the NPP MPs dropped their ultimatum. They did this because they were told that their concerns would be looked at again after an IMF deal was reached and the 2023 Budget statement was read and approved.

Still, a group in Parliament called the Minority caucus filed a motion of censure against the Finance Minister.

The Minority’s motion is based on a number of things, such as bad management of the economy, alleged withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund, and the illegal transfer of oil revenues to accounts outside the country.

Since then, the Speaker of Parliament has told the motion to be given to an ad hoc committee that will look into why the Minister was censured.