Ofori-Atta To Resign

Daily Guide

Thu 16th Nov, 2023 11:59

Information coming from the seat of government, Jubilee House indicates that Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is set to resign.

Sources said he expected to tender his resignation anytime soon to make way for the appointment of a new person to handle the Ministry.

According to our sources, Ken Ofori-Atta was only waiting to perform his last major task, the reading of the 2024 budget statement before he decides to take a bow from the position he has held for the past 7years.

This was after an attempt by some disgruntled Members of Parliament (MPs) to censure him failed almost a year ago.

That was when ruling party members walked out of parliament, depriving the opposition of the two-thirds majority it required to pass the motion.

Members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ghana’s main opposition party, accused Ofori-Atta of illegally using the government’s consolidated fund to finance a national cathedral project.

They also accused him of deliberately misreporting budget deficits to parliament, and of maintaining conflicting ties to commercial banks that allowed him to benefit from the country’s heavy debt burden.

During censorship hearings at the time, Ofori-Atta said he was “truly sorry” for the country’s economic hardship but denied accusations of wrongdoing.

The censorship motion required a two-thirds majority in Ghana’s hung parliament to pass.

By staging a dramatic walk-out at the end of the five hour session, ruling party lawmakers made securing such a majority impossible, even in the event of a secret ballot.

A ruling coalition of MPs in October last year suspended demands for Ofori-Atta to be removed from office over the allegations, saying they wanted the Minister to oversee negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a support package.

The Minister has been heavily criticized among the general public for his handling of what has become Ghana’s worst economic crisis in a generation. Calls for his resignation was a consistent feature of protests at the time.

Ofori-Atta is leading negotiations with the IMF for a relief package of up to $3 billion.

He is also the driving force behind the domestic debt restructuring scheme that spurred credit ratings downgrades.

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