Censure Motion: I wasn’t shielding Ofori-Atta; I wanted fairness – K.T Hammond

The Co-Chair of the Ad-hoc Committee for the Motion of Censure, K.T Hammond has dismissed claims his moves during the hearing of the committee were carefully calculated to shield the Finance minister.

According to him, he had to deploy tact to ensure fairness for the finance minister given the fact that all 4 minority members of the committee had signed the motion seeking to see the back of Ofori-Atta.

K.T Hammond has come under a barrage of criticisms over his handling of the hearing which ended last Friday.

But the Adansi Asokwa MP tells Starr FM’s Parliamentary Correspondent Ibrahim Alhassan in an exclusive Interview he did what he ought to under the circumstances.

“The whole world needs to understand this because this is a difficult committee to co-chair or to chair. Remember, eight of us and the four members on that side have all put their signatures to the motion to remove this man, the finance minister.

“So all the four of them are actually accusers and these are people who are actually sitting on the committee to listen to the minister’s defense. These are people who have actually condemned this man to his fate.

“So if anybody is suggesting that I am there to shield him or whatever at least I am neutral. In all these allegations I haven’t said anything. I am looking at the evidence to make sure that we operate appropriately.”

“This is more or less a criminal indictment, you’ve done this and that. You’ve taken a hundred million are all criminal charges so in law if you accuse you must prove. If you say I’ve taken a hundred million, show the evidence that this is sitting in my account.

“You don’t tell me to bring your account and let me run through your account and see if there are a hundred million in there. It doesn’t work like that. People should get this right and anybody suggesting that K.T wants to shield him, No!”

Meanwhile, the report has been presented to the plenary on Tuesday.