According to Adom-Otchere, Ofori-Atta performed very well in the first term of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo but is performing poorly now because the NPP MPs failed to give him the needed support.
He said that some of the NPP MPs failed to support the passage of the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) in time which could have brought in the needed funds to implement government programmes.
The broadcaster, who is also the Board Chairman of the Ghana Airport Company Limited, added that some of the NPPs also voted for Alban Bagbin to be the Speaker of Parliament which is creating many difficulties for Ofori-Atta.
“… right away there were difficulties (for Ofori-Atta) from 2020, 2021 in terms of passing the budget and getting little things done. It was a whole long ton drawn-out issue because the parliamentary NPP failed in its quest to be able to sustain its leadership.
“… then came the coup de grass (the nail in the coffin) on the night of 7th January … where some members of the NPP cast their vote for the NDC candidate (during the election for a speaker). I’m not sure whether they knew what they were doing to their party, to the country because the NPP had won the presidency. And then the speakership position flipped and then Mr. Bagbin become the Speaker and the Speaker is the controller of Parliament, he decides what Parliament can be discussed and not discussed… this is part of the Ofori-Atta problem.
“… E-Levy should have been passed in November 2021; it took about 6 months. In the meantime, other smaller revenue mobilization like the road toll and all of that had been taken out. E-Levy could not be passed, it was not even passed in the form that it was originally designed… If E-levy was passed from day one without all that Ofori-Atta was expected to generate (GH¢) 6 billion in revenue, that is why he was confident that he didn’t need the IMF.
“But there were those who were focused that E-Levy will not succeed. Not so much because they thought it will bring Ghanaians hardship but really, they taught that it was political misfortune for them. If E-Levy succeeds the political opponents succeed, I don’t succeed so I derail it,” he said during an editorial on his Good Evening Ghana show which was monitored by GhanaWeb.
He added that if Ghanaians want to judge the true performance of Ofori-Atta, they must factor in all these happenings.
The minority caucus of Parliament filed a motion to have Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State (in charge of Finance), Charles Adu-Boahen, sacked.
The MPs explained that their position follows several concerns over the poor mismanagement of the economy, which has forced the government to seek IMF assistance.
The Deputy Minority Chief Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim, noted, “as representatives of the people and as duty bearers, we must move a motion to call for the end of the finance minister.
“Our brothers in the majority believe in this. What they should do is to support the call of the Minority Leader and the motion for the Minority Leader for the dismissal of the finance minister.”
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has admitted the motion and has set November 10, 2022, for a secret vote on the motion.
Watch the interview below:
You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV:
IB/BOG
Broadcaster Paul Adom-Otchere