Ad-hoc committee probing censure motion postpones presentation of report

Reports have noted that the submission of the report from the eight-member ad-hoc committee has been postponed.

The committee was set up to probe a censure motion against the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

According to Citinewsroom.com, despite seeking an extension to present the report today, November 2, 2022, the committee will not be able to present it is yet to conclude its report for presentation to Parliament.

“We will apply to the Speaker for an extension of time to be able to file our report and the purpose of the report will simply be to continue the debate on the motion for the vote of censure and the report will be laid in Parliament hopefully on Tuesday”, a Co-Chair of the committee, Dr. Dominic Ayine had earlier said on November 18, 2022.

KT Hammond, another co-chair, announced that the committee would have to present a draft copy of the report to the finance minister to ensure that his responses are properly captured before the full report is tabled before Parliament for debate.

The minority in parliament proposed a censure motion against the finance minister on seven grounds.

According to Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu the seven grounds included an allegation of a “despicable conflict of interest” in which Ofori-Atta was directly benefitting from Ghana’s economic woes.

He also alleged an unconstitutional withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund, in contravention of Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution, for the construction of the National Cathedral.

Haruna Iddrisu also told the ad-hoc committee that the minister had made illegal payments of oil revenues into offshore accounts in violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution as well as misreporting of economic data to Parliament.

He also alleged that fiscal recklessness led to the crash of the Ghana cedi, which was reported to be the worst-performing currency in the world.

The second proponent of the motion, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, accused the Minister of deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament.

The Committee, set up by the Speaker of Parliament, is co-chaired by Dr Dominic Ayine, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolgatanga East for the Minority Caucus, and Kobina Tahir Hammond, MP for Adansi Asokwa, for the Majority Caucus.

It also included three members each from both the minority and majority sides.

Watch the latest episode of BizTech below:





SSD/MA