<\/p>\n
Rather, it was on record that\u00a0<\/span>during his tenure, there had been the\u00a0<\/span>most transparent regime in fiscal\u00a0<\/span>financial and economic reporting in\u00a0<\/span>the history of the country, he told the\u00a0<\/span>ad hoc committee of Parliament\u00a0<\/span>hearing the censure motion for his\u00a0<\/span>removal last Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n Additionally, he said,\u00a0<\/span>under his leadership at the Ministry\u00a0<\/span>of Finance, there had been\u00a0<\/span>significant improvement in the\u00a0<\/span>accurate reporting of public\u00a0<\/span>finances.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cToday, under President Nana\u00a0<\/span>Akufo-Addo, Ghanaians are enjoying\u00a0<\/span>greater accountability and\u00a0<\/span>transparency in the management of\u00a0<\/span>the public purse than any other\u00a0<\/span>period under the Fourth Republic,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>he said.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve been competent<\/strong><\/p>\n Defending himself against the\u00a0<\/span>five allegations made against him\u00a0<\/span>before the eight-member\u00a0<\/span>committee, Mr Ofori-Atta said since\u00a0<\/span>2017, the government had complied\u00a0<\/span>with the reporting provisions in the\u00a0<\/span>Public Financial Management Act\u00a0<\/span>2016 (Act 921), including budget\u00a0<\/span>implementation report, fiscal\u00a0<\/span>reports, public debt report,\u00a0<\/span>Petroleum Revenue Management\u00a0<\/span>reports and the Energy Sector\u00a0<\/span>Recovery Levy report.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI have not been alarmingly\u00a0<\/span>incompetent but instead we have\u00a0<\/span>been competent in managing the\u00a0<\/span>economy, and in doing so, we\u00a0<\/span>brought much relief to Ghanaians\u00a0<\/span>between 2017 and 2021,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Five grounds<\/strong><\/p>\n The Finance Minister appeared\u00a0<\/span>before the committee with his two\u00a0<\/span>counsel \u2013 Addo Atuam and Jacob\u00a0<\/span>Sampson \u2013 to defend himself against\u00a0<\/span>questions pertaining to five grounds\u00a0<\/span>being advanced by the proponents of\u00a0<\/span>the censure motion.<\/span><\/p>\n The grounds are unconstitutional\u00a0<\/span>withdrawals from the Consolidated\u00a0<\/span>Fund, in blatant contravention of\u00a0<\/span>Article 178 of the Constitution,\u00a0<\/span>supposedly for the construction of\u00a0<\/span>the National Cathedral; deliberate\u00a0<\/span>and dishonest misreporting of\u00a0<\/span>economic data to Parliament and\u00a0<\/span>fiscal recklessness, leading to the\u00a0<\/span>steep depreciation of the Ghana cedi.<\/span><\/p>\n The rest are alarming\u00a0<\/span>incompetence and frightening\u00a0<\/span>ineptitude resulting in the collapse\u00a0<\/span>of the Ghanaian economy and an\u00a0<\/span>excruciating cost of living crisis, as\u00a0<\/span>well <\/span>as gross\u00a0<\/span>mismanagement of the Ghanaian\u00a0<\/span>economy which has occasioned\u00a0<\/span>untold and unprecedented\u00a0<\/span>hardship.<\/span><\/p>\n Tested<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr Ofori-Atta called on chiefs,\u00a0<\/span>elders and churches to take the\u00a0<\/span>mantle and speak a common\u00a0<\/span>language, saying the nation was\u00a0<\/span>going through a test. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur circumstances require a\u00a0<\/span>united and concerted response to\u00a0<\/span>the crisis. Let us all work as one\u00a0<\/span>country to support labour\u00a0<\/span>negotiations, find a solution to the\u00a0<\/span>impasse in Parliament and rise\u00a0<\/span>above witch-hunting and\u00a0<\/span>entrapment. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThese are not ennobling and\u00a0<\/span>progressive for a society seeking\u00a0<\/span>transformation,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n He told the committee that the\u00a0<\/span>country had shown resilience for\u00a0<\/span>decades by surviving such crises.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>\u201cGhana has faced economic\u00a0<\/span>challenges since independence.\u00a0<\/span>Ghana has always come through\u00a0<\/span>each of them stronger and better\u00a0<\/span>than before. God willing, we shall\u00a0<\/span>come out of these difficult times\u00a0<\/span>too. Ghana will and must rise\u00a0<\/span>again,\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Mr Ofori told the committee\u00a0<\/span>in his written response to the\u00a0<\/span>grounds for censure. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI could not have been\u00a0reckless.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201d<\/span>The Finance Minister told the\u00a0<\/span>committee that the current\u00a0<\/span>government had invested a huge\u00a0<\/span>amount of money in the people of\u00a0<\/span>Ghana since 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n He said when the government\u00a0<\/span>came to power, there had been over<\/span>12 transformational projects which\u00a0<\/span>had been implemented over the<\/span>\u00a0years.<\/span><\/p>\n In line with that, he said, all\u00a0<\/span>annual budgets, which included\u00a0<\/span>fiscal operations, were approved by\u00a0<\/span>Parliament; therefore, I could not\u00a0<\/span>have been reckless\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI have not grossly mismanaged\u00a0<\/span>the Ghanaian economy and the\u00a0<\/span>current challenges are a factor of a\u00a0<\/span>myriad of challenges, most of\u00a0<\/span>which were inherited and also\u00a0<\/span>external in origin.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEven in these challenging\u00a0<\/span>times, we have been swift, bold and\u00a0<\/span>responsive,\u201d he said, indicating that\u00a0<\/span>the government had embarked on a\u00a0<\/span>journey to fundamentally\u00a0<\/span>reposition the economy.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd our post-COVID-19\u00a0<\/span>programme for economic growth\u00a0<\/span>which will be supported by the IMF\u00a0<\/span>and other friendly sovereigns will\u00a0<\/span>be our guide,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI feel very tarnished”<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201d<\/span>Mr Ofori-Atta pointed out that\u00a0<\/span>the seven grounds of allegations\u00a0<\/span>levelled against him had \u201cattacked\u00a0<\/span>my person, my character and my\u00a0<\/span>professional integrity\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd I think we have shown\u00a0<\/span>here that those grounds were not\u00a0<\/span>very sound, but I wait to hear from\u00a0<\/span>the plenary,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n In his view, the claims against\u00a0<\/span>him had been a very rare traumatic\u00a0<\/span>experience for him.\u00a0<\/span>Even more distressingly, he said,\u00a0<\/span>\u201csuch attack had pinched the\u00a0<\/span>professionalism of the staff at the\u00a0<\/span>Ministry of Finance who worked\u00a0<\/span>tirelessly in the management of the\u00a0<\/span>economy\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI feel very tarnished and it is\u00a0<\/span>also a very difficult week for the\u00a0<\/span>ministry with the exit of the\u00a0<\/span>Minister of State in a way that\u00a0<\/span>really does not elicit, enhance and\u00a0<\/span>encourage those who are not in the\u00a0<\/span>political sphere to come and help us\u00a0<\/span>in this,\u201d he said, in direct reference\u00a0<\/span>to the dismissal of Charles Adu\u00a0<\/span>Boahen, whose appointment was\u00a0<\/span>terminated by the President a week\u00a0<\/span>ago.<\/span><\/p>\n Mr Ofori-Atta expressed the\u00a0<\/span>strongest conviction that he had\u00a0<\/span>been able to provide the responses\u00a0<\/span>to the grounds \u201cbrought on me and\u00a0<\/span>my ministry\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Probe over debt\u00a0overhung<\/strong><\/p>\n On how much debt overhung\u00a0<\/span>the current government inherited\u00a0<\/span>when it assumed office in January\u00a0<\/span>2017, the minister said a debt of GH\u00a2<\/span>123 billion (equivalent to\u00a0<\/span>between $29 billion and $30 billion)\u00a0<\/span>was inherited at the time when one\u00a0<\/span>dollar was GH4.2.<\/span><\/p>\n When Dr Ayine asked him to\u00a0<\/span>confirm to the committee how\u00a0<\/span>much the financial sector clean up<\/span>cost, he said it cost around GH\u00a225<\/span>billion.<\/span><\/p>\n On fiscal recklessness, Dr Ayine\u00a0<\/span>put to him that it was due to his\u00a0<\/span>non-compliance with the Fiscal\u00a0<\/span>Responsibility Act and its\u00a0<\/span>regulations, the minister said he\u00a0<\/span>had difficulty understanding what\u00a0<\/span>\u2018recklessness\u2019 meant.<\/span><\/p>\n Unhappy with the answer, Dr\u00a0<\/span>Ayine asked him if he had read or\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>seen the 2021 Auditor-General\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>report and if he was aware of the\u00a0<\/span>Supreme Court\u2019s decision in the\u00a0<\/span>case Kpodo vs the Attorney-General\u00a0<\/span>in which the apex court said no less\u00a0<\/span>than five per cent of total revenues\u00a0<\/span>of Ghana must be paid to the\u00a0<\/span>District Assemblies Common Fund\u00a0<\/span>(DACF).<\/span><\/p>\n Answering, Mr Ofori-Atta said\u00a0<\/span>he was aware of the ruling and that\u00a0<\/span>the government, which had gone\u00a0<\/span>through difficult times, was\u00a0<\/span>running a budget deficit with \u201clots\u00a0<\/span>of arrear<\/span>