Ofori-Atta not fit to be Finance Minister – Haruna Iddrisu

Haruna Iddrisu, Minority leader in Parliament, says Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta is not fit to hold his position, describing his performance over the years as disappointing.

This statement by the law maker comes days after he asked Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to reduce the size of his government considering the current economic crisis in Ghana.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament in a debate on the motion to get Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta out of office on, Thursday, November 10, Haruna Iddrisu appealed to the Majority Members of Parliament to support the move by the Minority to get him removed.

“The President must reduce the size of his government,” Haruna Iddrisu said.

Speaking during the committee hearing of the allegations against Ofori-Atta today Tuesday November 15 in Parliament, the Tamale South lawmaker said Ofori Atta’s performance is disappointing and that he is not fit to be Finance Minister.

Also speaking at the hearing, a co-chairman of the 8-member committee investigating the allegations against the minister, Dr. Dominic Ayine, said those who filed the motion of censure against Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta are not accusers.

He noted that the Minority MPs who signed the motion only want the President to remove him as the Finance Minister.

He said “they are not accusers.”

“They just think that the president should not be giving him a place as Finance Minister.”

Alban Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, set up an 8-member committee to investigate the allegations made against Mr Ofori-Atta by the Minority in Parliament for which they filed a motion to get him removed from office.

The committee, headed by Dr Ayine and KT Hammond, lawmakers for Bolgatanga East and Adansi-Asokwa respectively, are to complete its work and submit the report within seven working days.

The Speaker’s ruling came after the Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament Alexander Afenyo-Markin called for a fair hearing for Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta.

According to Afenyo-Markin, a proper examination of the Minority’s claims against Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta reveals that they are criminal in nature.

“If we go ahead with the application, we will be doing a lot of injustice to our colleague.” “If this application is allowed, it will be an injustice and unfairness, and the Minister wouldn’t have been given adequate time to prepare for his defense,” he told Parliament.