Parliament to approve Ken Ofori-Atta as Finance Minister by voice vote

Parliament will today March 29, 2021 approve the nomination of Ken Ofori-Atta as Finance Minister by voice vote.

It comes after the nominee was approved by consensus by the Appointments Committee after he was vetted for two days.

The report of the Committee which was laid on Saturday March 27 will be taken today, March 29, 2021.

Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Joseph Osei-Owusu said though some Members were not present, both minority and majority members present voted in favour of Mr. Ofori-Atta’s approval.

The First Deputy Speaker explained that consensus approval means the minister-designate will be approved by voice vote and not by secret balloting.

The Minister for Finance designate, Ken Ofori-Atta during his vetting answered questions which bothered on the controversial Agyapa transaction.

He was made to respond to some of the issues that were raised in the corruption-risk assessment report produced by then Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu, who resigned weeks later over that report. He accused Mr. Amidu of giving him no right of reply before going public with his report.

According to him, the Agyapa deal will be resubmitted to parliament for it to be scrutinized before it is passed.

His vetting had to be rescheduled from Tuesday, February 16 after he was flown to the United States of America (USA) for treatment for post-COVID complications.