Vote of Censure motion against Ghana Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta fail after majority walk out of Parliament.
Despite dia walk out, de secret vote process still happen on de floor of parliament wey all 136 minority lawmakers participate.
At de end of de voting process, dem secure 136 votes which support de removal of Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta.
But according to Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, de vote fail to get two-thirds of all de members of parliament so de vote of censure fail.
“Parliament de need two-thirds of all de members of parliament to pass de vote of censure on de minister of state” Speaker Alban Bagbin talk.
“Based on Article 82 (1) de vote be loss” he add.
How dey vote of censure happun?
De voting process to remove or keep de finance minister happen through secret ballot.
What dis dey mean be say oda lawmakers no go know how dia colleagues dey vote on de matter.
Again, based on de rules of de house, lawmakers dey need two-thirds majority out of 275 seats to impeach de finance minister.
Dis mean about 183 or more lawmakers for vote in favour of de motion to remove Ken Ofori-Atta.
So even if president Nana Akufo-Addo fail to sack de finance minister, parliament go fit use de power of impeachment to remove Ken Ofori-Atta.
Reasons for vote of censure
De minority lawmakers say dem wan remove Ken Ofori Atta based on some of en actions.
- Conflict of interest which dey make he benefit directly from de economic woes sake of en companies dey receive commission wen Ghana dey go for loans.
- Unconstitutional withdrawals from de Consolidated Fund for construction of national cathedral which dey go against Article 178 of de 1992 Constitution.
- Illegal payment of oil revenue into offshore accounts which dey against Article 176 of de 1992 Constitution.
- Misreporting of economic data to parliament den fiscal recklessness wey lead to crashing of de Ghana cedi.
- Incompetence and ineptitude which dey cause collapse of Ghanaians economy.
Why de calls for removal of de finance minister?
For de first time in de history under de Fourth Republic, lawmakers from de ruling party openly call out de president to sack de finance minister despite en support and loyalty towards am.
De calls for en removal dey come on de back of economic challenges wey Ghana dey go through under de leadership of de finance minister.
“De recent development within de economy be major concern…” Andy Appiah-Kubi bin speak on behalf of de majority lawmakers.
“We dey use dis medium to communicate our strong desire dat de president change de minister of finance and de minister of state at de finance ministry without further delay in order to restore hope to de financial sector and reverse de downward trend in de growth of de economy,” e add.
Despite de initial call for en sack, majority lawmakers make u-turn afta dem meet with President Akufo-Addo who ask dem to give de Finance Minister some time to work until afta IMF deal happen.
Right now, Ghana govment dey ask local bond holders to accept losses on interest payments as part of move to restructure dia debt so say dem go fit secure loan facility from International Monetary Fund (IMF)
