Have things fallen apart after Oct. 25 ‘deal’ between Majority and Akufo-Addo?

On October 25, scores of New Patriotic Party Members of Parliament, initially numbering over 80, announced a demand for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to fire Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.

The call was premised on the fact that the two persons by their actions, with respect to the issuance of government bonds, were in positions of conflict of interest which was ultimately hurting the limping economy.

Hours after their call, a meeting was convened at the Presidency between the Majority Caucus and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

An October 26 statement about the outcome under the hand of the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu read in part:

“Following the Press Conference held on Tuesday, 25th October, 2022 by some Members of the Majority Caucus in Parliament demanding the removal of Minister of Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Charles Adu Boahen from office, the President engaged Members of the Caucus and requested that the issue be stood down until the conclusion of the round of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the presentation of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy in November 2022, and the subsequent passage of the Appropriation Bill after which time the demand shall be acted upon.

“After deliberations among the Majority Caucus today, Wednesday, 26th October, 2022, it was agreed to accede to the President’s appeal.”

In a follow-up interview, the Majority Leader said the position of the ‘Ken Must Go MPs’ had been adopted by the Caucus and that they were looking forward to Ofori-Atta’s exit in due course.

But barely a month after the Jubilee House agreement, leader of the October 25 call for Ken to be sacked, Andy Appiah-Kubi, Asante Akyem North MP has announced that the bloc is back to its original position where the demand for Ofori-Atta to exit immediately is back on the table.

“We’ve gone back to sack him now, therefore, we expect that some action be taken in respect of relieving him of his position. We have also told the president that if he is not relieved of his position, we shall not cooperate or work with him,” he said on Joy New channel’s PM Express, on November 15.

Speaking to the consequences of Ofori-Atta’s continued stay in office against their demand, the MP said they will not “…participate in anything that he brings to Parliament and that is where we are right now.

He clarified that the business boycott will apply strictly to anything that is brought under the hand of the executive president under the hand of the Finance Minister, “we are not going to participate.

“In fact, as far as we are concerned, we are not going to do business with him and if we are not going to do business with him, he does not participate in any process from the presidency to the House, we will not participate on deliberation on it.”

The question that arises then is, have the October 25 meeting whose outcome was confirmed in a statement of October 26, fallen apart?

If it has, is it the case that the entire Majority bloc is now making this new demand to sack Ofori-Atta?

Mind you, this is a Minister who is currently facing a vote of censure hearing by an 8-member ad hoc committee of Parliament as he defends himself against seven grounds of removal as contained in a Minority-led vote of censure motion.

Time, like they say, will tell.

SARA/PEN