Majority stage walkout ahead of a Vote of Censure

The Members of the majority caucus of Parliament Thursday staged a walkout ahead of a secret vote on the censure of Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister for Finance.

The exercise was preceded by a debate on the report of an Ad-Hoc Committee presented to the House on Thursday, November 25.

The motion on the debate was moved on Thursday, December 8 by Mr Kobina Tahir Hammond, a Co-Chair of the and was Seconded by Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, also a Co-Chair.

On Thursday, Nov 10, Mr Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament set up an eight-member Ad-Hoc Committee to probe the Minority Caucus’ allegations in a Censure Motion filed against Mr Ofori-Atta.

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.

After contributing to the debate, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader, led the walkout, saying “they cannot be part of a process that was baseless and politically motivated,” he said.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, in his address, said the censure motion by the Minority caucus was out of bad faith and only sought to embarrass the Finance Minister.

In his defence, on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, Mr Ofori-Atta rejected the allegations of conflict of interest and gross mismanagement of the economy levelled against him by the Minority caucus in Parliament.

He said: “Mr Speaker, I have done nothing wrong and describe the allegations against me as witch-hunting.”
“If I say I am innocent the Minority won’t believe me and if I ask for the truth and proof, they won’t be able to provide it. I have committed no crime,” Mr Ofori-Atta said.