Members of Parliament from the Majority side are giving indications that they will not partake in the presentation of the budget if Finance Minister, Ken-Ofori Atta is the person who appears before the house to present it.
According to MP for Asante Akyem North who was spokesperson for the group of MPs in the majority caucus who had initially called for the dismissal of the Finance Minister, Andy Appiah-Kubi, the decision to boycott the reading of the budget has become needful because, latest developments suggest that probably, they didn’t understand what the President’s action will be after the budget is read and the IMF negotiations are over.
Hon. Appiah-Kubi referred to media reportage that claimed the President did not categorically state that he will dismiss Ofori-Atta after Ofori-Atta is done presenting the budget and leading the ongoing IMF negotiations.
“After we met with the President and we had that understanding that [he] will accede to our request, after the two events were closed, we were of the conviction that [the] President will do so. But after that, the issues that were coming suggested that our understanding was probably wrong.
“Issues of interpretation came in where somebody said the President will accede to our request [others said] he’ll not do it [because] it is that time that he’ll consider to do it. Even people in the media were advocating that President did not categorically say he was going to do it.
“So if it became ambiguous because of different interpretations that people were [giving] to the President’s promise, then we thought that it was incumbent on the President’s office to come and clear the air. [Moreover,] the Finance Minister was [also] talking contrary to the believe we had.
“So if the President’s office did not put him right by clearing the air, then there was the presumption that maybe President believed in what he was saying. Therefore [we decided] to go back to were we were because if the President’s mind changed, we also reserve the right to change our minds.
“Our position is that Finance Minister should not come to the house in his attempt to present the budget. We’ll not support him in that.”
Andy Appiah-Kubi, MP
Majority Caucus Intends Not to Do Business With Ofori-Atta
The Asante Akyem North MP claimed that the Majority caucus was reverting back to it’s initial threat expressed during the press conference on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, that MPs in the caucus will not do any business with the Finance Minister.
“At the last press conference, we had indicated that we are not do any business with him and therefore if the Finance Minister brought any bill, we’ll not participate. This is what we told him and told the nation.”
Andy Appiah Kubi, MP
He observed that the motion that has been filed by the minority group suggests that the minority is also unwilling to do business with the Minister. And so he quizzed, “if the two sides of the same house are saying they don’t want to do business with you, [then] who are you going to be speaking to; the empty chairs?”
Hon. Appiah-Kubi insinuated that the postition not to do business with Ofori-Atta was the position of the entire majority caucus because, after the press conference was held by the section of the majority demanding for Ofori-Atta’s dismissal, later, the entire caucus adopted the petition that was signed.
In fact, he claimed that the initial number who called for Ofori-Atta’s removal was not 80 MPs as was widely reported in the media.
He explained, “it is not 80; we [breakaway MPs] said 80% at the time, you [the media] got us wrong. Our membership is around 95 [that is] the initial group. 80 as mentioned was in respect to percentage. 95 people signed to the petition but subsequently, the whole caucus adopted it so it became a caucus position.”
The Asante Akyem North Legislator mentioned that MPs in the majority caucus have held consultation meetings with their party, the NPP, and are certain that their current position not to do business with the Finance Minister, is the position of the party as well.
However, he admitted that they have not communicated their decision to President Akufo-Addo.
‘We [NPP MPs] don’t need to communicate anything, our communication will be in our deeds,” the MP said.
He claimed the move was not a rebellion against the President because, since their understanding of their agreement with the President could probably be wrong, then “we want to align [themselves] with the new understanding.”
Meanwhile, the NPP MPs are not willing to vote in favour of the censure motion filed by the minority group for Ken Ofori-Atta’s dismissal. They claim they have a process they wish to follow in getting Ofori-Atta out and that process is different from what the minority is pursuing.
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