{"id":1114815,"date":"2022-06-08T15:20:54","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T15:20:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/06\/08\/ofori-atta-must-be-removed-from-office-ablakwa\/"},"modified":"2022-06-08T15:20:54","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T15:20:54","slug":"ofori-atta-must-be-removed-from-office-ablakwa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/06\/08\/ofori-atta-must-be-removed-from-office-ablakwa\/","title":{"rendered":"Ofori-Atta must be removed from office \u2013 Ablakwa"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu has called on Parliament to initiate processes to remove Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta from office. <\/p>\n

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said this has become necessary due to his supervision of some unbudgeted funds that were released towards the construction of the National Cathedral.<\/p>\n

The NDC MP was speaking in relation to his latest allegation that the Minister in 2020 released an amount of GH\u00a2142 for a supposed \u201cplanned activities\u201d around the project. <\/p>\n

This release, he said, was done upon the request of the Chief of Staff at the Presidency.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOn October 29, 2020; Ken Ofori-Atta at the request of President Akufo-Addo\u2019s Chief of Staff, Frema Osei Opare, authorized the release of a gargantuan \u00a2142.7million for the National Cathedral.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outspoken legislator who was speaking on\u00a0JoyFM<\/strong>\u2018s\u00a0Super Morning Show\u00a0<\/strong>on Wednesday, June 8, described the move by the Finance Minister as a \u201cgrave constitutional violation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI take the view that the Finance Minister must pay for this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that the Finance Minister should be hauled before Parliament and made to account for the funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must set a good precedent and deter others who in the future would engage in such naked dissipation,\u201d he stressed. <\/p>\n

The MP in his social media post on Wednesday, June 8, said so far, GH\u00a2200 million illegal funds have been released towards the project. <\/p>\n

The lawmaker has been on a crusade against the release of unbudgeted funds for the project.<\/p>\n

He had earlier claimed that the government released an amount of \u00a232 million to Sir David Adjaye & Associates Limited in 2021, an allegation, the Deputy Finance Minister, John Kumah has justified.<\/p>\n

He said the amount was paid from the Office of the President\u2019s budget. As a result, he said the payment was legal. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven though it may not be captured as a budget item because it is not under any specific MDA, it can form part of government expenditure as long as we have captured it in the budget that we were going to provide seed funding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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