{"id":1255196,"date":"2022-11-21T17:11:10","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T17:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/11\/21\/it-is-suicidal-to-remove-ken-ofori-atta-at-this-crucial-hour\/"},"modified":"2022-11-21T17:11:10","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T17:11:10","slug":"it-is-suicidal-to-remove-ken-ofori-atta-at-this-crucial-hour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/11\/21\/it-is-suicidal-to-remove-ken-ofori-atta-at-this-crucial-hour\/","title":{"rendered":"“It is suicidal\u00a0to remove Ken Ofori-Atta\u00a0at this ‘crucial hour’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A former chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Dr Mark Assibey Yeboah, has stated it will be \u201csuicidal\u201d to remove Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta from office \u201cat this crucial hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

He, has, therefore,\u00a0appealed to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MPs) demanding his removal and have indicated their readiness not to support the 2023 Budget hearing, debate, approval of the estimates and the passage of the Appropriations Bill to reconsider their posture.<\/p>\n

He said time was of essence since the rules surrounding the budget is clear that it ought to be presented to Parliament on or before November 15 every year.<\/p>\n

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Already, one week has passed as of November 21, 2022, and ideally, about six weeks is needed to do a thorough job on the budget consideration.<\/p>\n

He said when it comes to the Budget reading, it is possible anybody at all can read it provided the person was a Minister of State, but the chunk of the thorough work demands that the Minister and his team must lead \u2013 debate, approval of estimates and passage of Appropriations Bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be suicidal for the minister to be taken off at this crucial hour,\u201d Dr Assibey Yeboah, himself a former MP for New Juaben South said in an interview on Accra-based\u00a0Oman FM<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This is not the time for that, \u201cto what end, what will it profit us. Even if a new minister is nominated today, it will not take this short period to vet and swear that person into office. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat person is likely to be sworn into office in 2023. The deputy ministers can also not perform the function of the substantive minister, Parliament can even decide not to hear a deputy minister,\u201d Dr Assibey Yeboah added.<\/p>\n

He said the minister will be needed at the committee level to defend the budget and therefore there is no need to create a vacuum.<\/p>\n

He said if the budget estimates and the Appropriations Bill is not done by December 22, 2022, it will disturb the entire nation and therefore Mr Ofori-Atta should be supported to carry this through so that when it gets to January 2023 and the President decides to remove him, it will not create any inconveniences for the country.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAs to whether Ken Ofori-Atta should be sacked or not, seriously I don\u2019t have an opinion on that one, I leave it to the President to remove or maintain him,\u201d he added and insisted the stance of the NPP MPs were problematic as some of them were \u201cpersonalising\u201d the issues.<\/p>\n

For now, let us get this out of the way, he said.<\/p>\n

Andy Kwame Appiah Kubi, spokesperson for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament from the majority caucus, demanding the removal of Mr Ken Ofori-Atta as Finance Minister, had reiterated their stance not to participate in the 2023 Budget hearing and passage if President Akufo-Addo insists on keeping him in office.<\/p>\n

Mr Appiah-Kubi, who is the NPP MP for Asante Akyem North said per their consultation, the majority of their constituents and NPP members were in agreement that, Mr Ofori-Atta should be removed from office.<\/p>\n

He said the members disagreed with the suggestion that it is only Mr Ofori-Atta who can present the 2023 Budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he is not there, can\u2019t others present the budget,\u201d Mr Appiah-Kubi questioned in a radio interview on Accra-based\u00a0Oman FM<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have lost confidence in him because in the 2022 Budget, he promised that with an E-levy and property rate, there will be no need to go to the IMF for support\u2026 As we speak now, that has not happened and the property rate is even yet to take off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not convinced that it should be Ken Ofori-Atta and nobody else,\u201d Mr Appiah-Kubi added and insisted it is their \u201cpolitical decision\u201d that Mr Ofori-Atta must go for \u201cthe collective interest\u201d of the NPP.<\/p>\n

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