KT Hammond, a co-chair of the committee that probed allegations in a censure motion filed against the Finance Minister, said they did not find a single piece of evidence to warrant the claims made against Ken Ofori-Atta.
“The committee was not able to come out with any findings,” he said on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, December 8, 2022.
Debating the motion in Parliament, Dr. Dominic Ayine, who was also a co-chair of the ad-hoc committee insisted that they had “unassailable evidence” but were compelled to build consensus on the motion.
Adding to the debate, the Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, said the Minority is “acting in bad fate”.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin in his opening remarks said, “Honourable Members, both the Constitution and the Standing Orders require that the Minister against whom a vote of censure motion is moved is entitled to be heard in defence.”
He said the committee has vindicated his decision and allayed the fears of a section of Ghanaians who had thought otherwise.
“The information I have shared with you and the public leaves me in no doubt whatsoever that the procedure adopted by the referral of the matter to the ad-hoc committee for inquiry is well rooted in law. I am convinced that the public hearing conducted by the committee has vindicated my decision and allayed the fears of all those who had thought otherwise. Fortified by this conviction, I rule that the referral of the motion to pass a resolution on a vote of censure on the Minister of Finance to an ad-hoc committee for inquiry is proper and in accordance with the law”, he stated.
The Minority in Parliament On October 25, 2022, filed the censure motion against Ken Ofori-Atta.
Some Members of the Majority caucus have also called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to sack Mr. Ofori-Atta.
The Minority caucus in Parliament had called on the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs to join forces with its members to remove the Mr. Ofori-Atta from office.
The ad-hoc committee was co-chaired by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Adansi Asokwa constituency, K. T. Hammond, and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Bolgatanga East, Dr. Dominic Ayine.
