Justin Frimpong Kodua — General Secretary, NPP (right) and Frank Annor-Dompreh — Majority Chief Whip
The Majority Caucus in Parliament has rescinded their decision not to attend the presentation of the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
This follows a crunch meeting that was held last Tuesday evening in Accra between the Majority Caucus, the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the NPP Council of Elders , where all sides agreed to adhere to the earlier request made by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
This was contained in a statement co-signed by the Majority Chief Whip in Parliament, Frank Annor-Dompreh, and the General Secretary of the NPP, Justin Frimpong Kodua.
Reasons
They have decided to stand down their demands for the removal of the Finance Minister until the conclusion of the round of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which would feed into the 2023 Budget.
Also, the Majority decision was to allow for the presentation of the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy by the Finance Minister on behalf of the President; and the subsequent presentation and passage of the Appropriation Bill.
“The meeting agreed that the President would act upon the initial request of the NPP Parliamentary Caucus after the conclusion of these matters”, it said.
The statement, therefore, noted that the leadership of the parliamentary group and the leadership of the party counselled the Members of the Parliament of the party to resort to the Caucus communication channels and to work together as one Caucus unit.
Recall
About 98 Majority Members of Parliament (MPs) last month threatened to boycott the budget presentation and other Finance Ministry-related business, if the President did not remove Mr Ofori-Atta.