The Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale Central, Murtala Mohammed, says the only reason the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is still at post has nothing to do with his performance as Minister but has everything to do with his last name.
According to him, the performance of the Minister since he was appointed to office has been nothing to write home about.
He stated that the only reason he is still at post is due to his familial affiliation with the President and nothing else. Mr Ofori-Atta is a cousin to President Akufo-Addo.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, he said, “I have said on this your programme and many other programmes that the reason why Ken Ofori-Atta is still the Minister of Finance is because he uses Ofori-Atta. There is no positive story you can tell about this man as the Minister for Finance. Tell me one, one single story.”
His comment follows calls from some 80 New Patriotic Party MPs for the immediate dismissal of the Finance Minister.
According to them, the continuous stay of Mr Ofori-Atta in office was delaying the IMF bailout the country is seeking due to the fact that the Minister has lost all credibility.
They have, thus, petitioned the President to either remove him or face a boycott in Parliament.
Reacting to the move by the NPP MPs, Mr Mohammed noted that although calls for the Minister’s removal are justified, it was not enough if the President remains in office.
He said the President and his vice have both lost their credibility and thus should be removed as well.
“No fish will rot except that the rotting will start from the head. If the justification for their calling for the removal of Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, which already was our position, is credibility, for your information, the President himself has lost the credibility.
“If credibility is the yardstick to determine whether someone should govern, the President has lost it completely. Why? You made reference to the United Kingdom, perhaps they want to get the Minister of Finance and after that, the President himself must go,” he said.
He added, “But by the way, he’s answerable to the appointing authority. The President and the Vice President are a disaster. Of course, who appointed Ken? In fact, the position, the policy position of the President, the vision of the President is what is echoed by his appointees including the Minister.
“There are very good people who could have served as Ministers. When the NDC lost power in 2016, I publicly stated that the best person who should be appointed as Minister for Finance was Dr Akoto Osei and I said that for a reason. I said that I served on the Finance Committee with Dr Akoto Osei for eight years.
“If there was anybody within the NPP who understood the real economic position of this country at the time it was Dr Akoto Osei because he was the Ranking Member for eight years. He had been a Minister of State. The President didn’t appoint him because he’s not a family member.”