The Minority’s motion to vote down the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, was unsuccessful.
This is due to the fact that just 136 lawmakers from the minority party cast a vote on Thursday calling for Mr. Ofori-Atta to be fired, falling short of the two-thirds constitutional threshold for the motion to pass.
To approve the resolution against Mr. Ofori-Atta, the motion’s supporters required the support of 183 lawmakers.
The New Patriotic Party lawmakers staged a walkout before the vote and made the decision not to back the motion put forth by their counterparts on the opposing side of the House.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Mensah, the majority leader who organised the walkout, declared that his party could not participate in a procedure that was politically motivated and without foundation.
Speaking to the Speaker, Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu claimed that the Minority caucus’ motion of censure was brought forth in poor faith and was intended merely to humiliate the Finance Minister.
“You [the Minority] want us to follow you on this misadventure. Mr Speaker, like Pontius Pilate did, we will wash our hands of this”, he said.
The Minority caucus submitted a vote of censure against the Finance Minister, charging him with economic incompetence, financial irresponsibility, conflict of interest, and egregious economic mismanagement.
The Finance Minister denied charges of conflict of interest and egregious economic mismanagement brought against him by the Parliamentary Minority group.
The accusations against him, he claimed, were witch hunts and he had done nothing wrong.
“If I say I am innocent they [the minority] will not believe me and if I ask for the truth and proof, they will not be able to provide that. I have committed no crime,” Mr Ofori-Atta insisted on Thursday.
