The vote of censure against the Finance Minister,
Ken Ofori-Atta, has failed after less than 183 Members of Parliament voted to
oust the embattled Minister.
A total of 136 National Democratic Congress MPs
voted on Thursday to demand the removal of Mr Ofori-Atta falling short of the
two-thirds constitutional requirement for the motion to pass through.
Prior to the vote, the New Patriotic Party MPs
staged a walkout and decided not to support the motion of their colleagues from
the opposition side of the House.
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Mensah, who
led the walkout said his side cannot be part of a process that was baseless and
politically motivated.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu addressing the Speaker said
the censure motion by the Minority caucus was pushed out of bad faith and only
sought to embarrass the Finance Minister.
“You [the Minority] want us to follow you on this misadventure. Mr Speaker, like Pontius Pilate did, we will wash our hands of this,” he said.
The Minority caucus filed a motion of censure
against the Finance Minister, accusing him of mismanagement of the economy,
financial recklessness, conflict of interest, and gross mismanagement of the
economy.
In his defence, the Finance Minister rejected
allegations of conflict of interest and gross mismanagement of the economy
levelled against him by the Minority caucus in Parliament.
Social Plugin