Ken Ofori-Atta Is Safe As Vote Of Censure Fails

The Minority in Parliament has not been able to succeed in their attempt to remove Ken Ofori-Atta from office.

The censure motion against Finance Minister failed to meet the required number of votes required to succeed.

The motion, which was debated on Thursday and subsequently voted on, had only the Minority members being present to vote.

All 136 Minority MPs took part in the secret vote to pass the censure motion.

The Majority members walked out minutes before the voting commenced.

The NPP MPs described the Minority’s action as one in futility and not adhering to the Constitution as their numbers lack the constitutional mandate to form a quorum.

Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin ruling on the vote said the Minority MPs did not meet the Constitutional threshold of 183 MPs, thus two-thirds of members of the House.

“In accordance with article 83(1) which reads; Parliament may by a resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of all the MPs pass a vote of censure on the Minister for State. Following the terms of Article 82 (1) the vote is accordingly lost,” he said on the floor.

It would be recalled that the Minority members filed a censure motion against Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta which sought to dismiss the Minister from office.

The Speaker subsequently referred the motion to an eight-member Adhoc Committee for a review.

Vote Of Censure: NPP MPs Stage Walkout As Parliament Decides Ofori-Atta’s Fate

The Committee after its hearing presented its report to the House last week. The report was admitted by the House in Parliament on Thursday before the debate on the censure motion.

Already, some 98 NPP MPs had called for the head of the Minister on grounds of incompetence and mismanagement of the economy.

The NPP MPs were later invited by the President and National Executives of the party who appealed to the MPs to allow the Minister conclude the IMF negotiations and presentation of the 2023 Budget.

Meanwhile, Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister for Finance has said he has committed no crime and that members of the Minority in Parliament have not been able to prove their case.

Speaking in Parliament on Thursday (7 December), “For I tell you, Mr Speaker, that even if I said I am innocent they [The minority] will not believe me. And if I ask for truth and proof they will not be able to answer that.”

He added, “I have committed no crime”.

“…the shout for censure shall forever ring in the ears of those who signed the censure and their conscience and their souls which shall ring as crucify, crucify in their minds,” Ofori-Atta said.

Listen to Ofori-Atta and Alban Bagbin in the audio below: