If the President does not immediately fire Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, 98 New Patriotic Party (NPP) members of parliament have vowed to boycott the budget presentation and any Finance Ministry activity.
This new figure represents an increase from the previous 80 NPP MPs who had earlier called for the dismissal of Charles Adu-Boahen, the Minister of State in charge of the Finance Ministry, and the Finance Minister.
The group’s spokesperson and MP for Asante Akyem North, Andy Appiah-Kubi, claims that Ofori-position Atta’s in government has become untenable, which is why there is a new call for his resignation.
He made his statement after the group had softened their demand as a result of a meeting with Nana Akufo-Addo, the president.
President Akufo-Addo had asked for the sector minister to be permitted to stay until after the budget presentation and appropriation of the same, to which the MPs had agreed, in a statement signed by Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu.
The NPP MPs believe it is time for the Finance Minister to resign, however, as he is currently up for a vote of censure from the Minority side of Parliament.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, Appiah-Kubi said, “We’ve gone back to (our demand for the President to) sack him now and therefore should the budget be presented under the stamp of the Finance Minister, we’ll not participate because as far as we’re concerned we’re never going to do business with him.
“And if we’re not going to do business with him, he does not participate in any process from the Presidency to the House. We will not participate in deliberations too.”
He pointed out that the President will only be able to persuade them to take part in the budget presentation and appropriation if someone else from the executive branch is chosen to do so.
“We’re not saying we won’t do President’s business. We’re saying we won’t do President’s business through Ofori-Atta. So if anybody else comes with President’s business, we’ll participate,” he said.
The amended resolution, according to Mr. Andy Appiah-Kubi, was the result of a meeting on Tuesday, November 15, at which 98 NPP MPs participated to discuss their position as a whole after deciding to soften their earlier stance.
