Former Deputy Minister for Works and Housing, Eugene Boakye Antwi, has questioned the reason behind the Finance Minister; Ken Ofori-Atta’s, continuous stay in office, despite earlier calls for his resignation or dismissal.
Mr. Boakye Antwi, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Subin Constituency in the Ashanti Region, cannot fathom why Mr. Ofori-Atta, is still leading negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for a $3 billion bailout package, although there are competent persons within the party to handle such duties.
The Subin MP, who has in the past mounted a campaign to get Mr. Ofori-Atta kicked out, asked: “what is so special about Ken Ofori-Atta, that the ordinary NPP member doesn’t have?” The Subin Member of Parliament said, running a bank, cannot be equated to successfully running an economy of a country, such as Ghana.
“We cannot all run banks but some of us have common sense, that is why we are Members of Parliament. When I go to Subin, I see poverty, I see hardship, and I see people suffering and all these are due to the economy and the person running the economy.”
Eugene Boakye Antwi
Gov’t Struggling To Pay Salaries Of Civil Servants
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has said the Government of Ghana, is having difficulty paying the February salaries of public sector employees.
He cited the GCB Bank’s tweet, that suggested it was having challenges processing salaries from the Controller and Accountant General’s Department. Dr. Ato Forson, was addressing members on the floor of the House, in relation to the Electoral Commission’s new Constitutional Instrument (CI), that seeks to make the Ghana card the source document for voter registration.
“As we speak today, government is unable to pay salaries, if you check the Twitter account of GCB Bank, it says it is unable to pay salaries. So, if government is unable to pay salaries, how can it accept assurances that, every Ghanaian will acquire the Ghana card?
“There have been some challenges with data, challenges with salary processes and in his own way, what we call terminological inexactitude, is interpreting that to mean; the Republic of Ghana, not having money to pay salaries. That is wrong and disingenuous, and we should not allow that to be perpetuated.”
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
But the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta who was also present in Parliament, responded to the claim and refuted the assertion, maintaining that the government has not reneged on its obligations.
We’ll Oppose EC’s New CI, Until Ghana Card Challenges Are Resolved
The Minority in Parliament, however said it will not support the Electoral Commission’s proposed Constitutional Instrument (CI), until the National Identification Authority (NIA), addressed issues with the acquisition of Ghana Cards (EC).
As part of the new CI, the EC intends to make the Ghana Card the sole identification document for voter registration for the 2024 elections. Speaking on the floor of Parliament, following a presentation by EC and NIA officials, Minority Leader; Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, said processes must be put in place to make the acquisition of Ghana Card less tedious.
“Using the Ghana card as the only means of voter registration, will negatively impact the electoral roll and deny some otherwise qualified persons from registering to vote. We cannot take assurances as the basis. Let the NIA resolve the challenges with the issuance of the Ghana card first. Until that, I am sorry, we can never be part of that.”
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, on the other hand, claimed that the Minority lacks the authority to prevent the government from conducting business in the house.
“The Minority has given a strong indication that, if the issues they have raised are not attended to, they will oppose it and carry through with their opposition. I don’t know what he means by that. We are trying to build a consensus, but the bottom line is that, nobody in this house can prevent a government from presenting its business to the house.”
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu
Meanwhile, the National Identification Authority (NIA), is set to print more Ghana cards as government has settled GH¢100 million debt owed creditors. Printing of the cards, was suspended following financial constraints faced by the NIA. In view of this, more than 3.5 million cards were locked up in a bonded warehouse.
But appearing before Parliament on February 28, 2023, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta disclosed that an amount of GH¢20 million has been paid to CalBank, following the initial payment of GH¢80 million.
“I think that the main question was about the GH¢100 million to be transferred to CalBank IMS and as has been confirmed by the [Executive] Director for the NIA, we have indeed transferred the GH¢80 million and today with swift instructions, the GH¢20 million has also been executed. That is the assurance we want to give, that we will continue to work with the programme we have agreed with CalBank.”
Ken Ofori-Atta
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