Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu
The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has descended heavily on private legal practitioner, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko.
He has expressed his dissatisfaction with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) stalwart over alleged claims against him (Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) that he is the mastermind behind some Majority members demanding the dismissal of Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Peeved Minister of Parliamentary Affaris speaking in an interview with Kumasi-based Sompa Radio stated that “From nowhere, we hear Gabby Otchere-Darko on his Asaase Radio accusing me of instigating what was happening, for what? What do I stand to gain from that?” he retorted.
The lawmaker of Suame questioned the authority of the Mr. Otchere-Darko over leveling such allegations against him.
He asked “There are people who would rather want to cause disintegration while you are committed to integrating. But now this has brought about another sense of anger. That Gabby Otchere-Darko, who does he think he is? I serve Akufo-Addo, and I serve the party as well as the government… when we talk about the government itself, what is your locus standi to be accusing me of being an instigator?”
He revealed if not of his intervention to instill calm when a group of MPs in the NPP made public demands for the dismissal of the finance minister, the issue might have gone out of control by now.
According to him, “With the way the thing started, if I had not been hinted at by a colleague to intervene, we would have been in a bad place. Today is November 15, and we were supposed to present the budget today, but we had to postpone to 24th because I realised we may not be prepared after studying the situation. I sat with the finance minister and agreed with him to postpone it. After doing this and you turn to accuse me of being an instigator, what if I decide to watch and let everything fall apart?”
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu therefore accused Mr. Otchere-Darko of sponsoring a contender against him in the 2016 primaries of the NPP, pointing out that his agenda fell flat.
He mentioned that “You (Gabby) are the same person who wrote something for someone to publish on his radio station that I will lose if I contest for re-election, hence my saying that I will not contest again. Gabby Otchere-Darko, have you contested an election before? They are the same people who sponsored people to contest against me in 2016, it didn’t work for them.”
The majority leader said Gabby Otchere-Darko accused him of instigating calls for the finance minister’s sacking just so the leader of government business in parliament can be considered as a replacement for the underfire Ken Ofori-Atta.
This fallows public calls for the sacking of Ken Ofori-Atta as a result of Ghana’s current economic challenges.
Not only that, NPP members in Parliament in a press conference demanded the sacking of the minister believing that his removal would help restore confidence in the Ghanaian economy.
Their demand, however, is said to have been met by a request from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who asked that Ken Ofori-Atta be allowed to conclude Ghana’s ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.
The president further demanded that the minister be allowed to present the 2023 budget before the demand for his removal may be considered.
By Vincent Kubi