Parliament has approved the nomination of Ken Ofori-Atta as minister responsible for Finance in the Akufo-Addo led administration.
The nominee who returned to Ghana for his vetting following his treatment in the USA for post-Covid health complications faced an unprecedented two-day vetting before the Parliament’s Appointments Committee.
His approval comes after the Appointments Committee by consensus recommended his approval to the House.
Parliament, as a whole approved the nomination by a voice vote.
Meanwhile, several MPs from the Minority side raised reservations over the responses of the Minister when he appeared before the vetting committee.
The minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu described the Minister as having performed unsatisfactorily when he appeared before them.
He insisted that Ofori-Atta must furnish the committee with details on the recruitment of Mackenzie as revenue collector for GRA.
“Mr speaker I beg to second the motion for the approval of the President’s nominee (Mr Ken Ofori Atta) as Minister-designate for Finance, and Mr speaker in doing so, as you may recall, our side of the appointments committee requested for some other information related to Ken Ofori Atta as Minister for Finance, we have accordingly recommended that he be approved by consensus.
“But Mr Speaker it does not mean that we are satisfied with his performance as finance minister. He probably will go and bear the brunt of his mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy in the last four years, he will bear the brunt of his inability to reconcile his fiscal data. He bears the brunt for not providing enough details of how much the bank of Ghana finance the government of Ghana in the 2020 period.
“We will demand more information on this matter, because we are convinced that he is in breach of the law, in breach of the bank of Ghana Act, in breach of their fiscal responsibility act and in breach of their public financial management act,” he stated emphatically.
However, the Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei-Kyei-Mensah Bonsu assured the minority caucus, that the Minister will be available to provide further clarification on the concerns by the minority if needed.
Mr Ofori-Atta now awaits his swearing-in by the President.
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