Ken Ofori-Atta
Parliament unanimously approved President Akufo-Addo’s nominee for the Finance Ministry, Ken Ofori-Atta, yesterday, after two days of grilling by the Appointments Committee last week.
The Appointments Committee, by consensus, recommended to the House to approve the nomination of Mr. Ofori-Atta as Finance Minister, following deliberations on his nomination in accordance with Article 256 (1) of the 1992 Constitution and Order 172 of the Standing Orders of Parliament.
NDC Tantrums
Ahead of his vetting, the opposition NDC had vowed not to approve him after promising “hell” for him over the Agyapa, PDS and Databank issues among others.
They even made spurious claims that the soft spoken nominee had feigned sickness in order to avoid being vetted even when it was obvious that Mr. Ofori-Atta had to travel to the United States due to complications he suffered for his post-COVID-19 treatment, thereby delaying his vetting for about a month.
He appeared before the Appointments Committee last week and took his time to explain issues despite being bombarded with a barrage of questions for two days.
Brogya Apology
His approval has forced one of the NDC leaders who has been on the neck of Mr. Ofori-Atta since he became minister, including taking him to CHRAJ, to apologize profusely to him for any wrong done him.
Brogya Genfi posted on social media, titled ‘Public Apology to Finance Minister, Kenneth Kuntunkununku Ofori-Atta’, saying, “Dear Ken, I want to apologise to you on all issues I picked on you in the past. What is it with you that the courts exonerate you, the executive arm praises you and Parliament of Ghana approves you with a bipartisan support? May be, time has proven I was either chasing non-existent crimes or misinterpreted the issues. Kindly find a place in your heart to forgive. I am really sorry.”
Final Approval
Yesterday in Parliament, the Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh Dompreh, a member of the Appointments Committee, moved the motion for the adoption of the committee’s report and seconded by Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, the Ranking Member of the committee.
The committee, however, met on Thursday and Friday, March 25 and 26, 2021, and considered his nomination during which he responded to questions on justification for the resubmission of the Agyapa transaction, status of Ghana’s current total debt, money spent on the financial sector clean up, public sector wage negotiations and funding for GH¢100 billion Ghana Cares (Obaatan pa).
The rest are challenges in the implementation of the revenue capping policy, improving on value for money assessment regime of the country, alleged conflict of interest in the Agyapa deal, acceptance of LBGQI+ as a condition for grant of foreign aid, and the rationale for the proposed tax hikes by the government, among others.
With wisdom and dexterity, he had answered all the “tough questions” with ease on the infamous Agyapa, which the NDC created the impression that it was a massive scam on the nation by the Akufo-Addo administration.
Adopting Statutes
The Appointments Committee, in its report, said it principally relied on the 1992 Constitution and the Standing Orders of Parliament, and indicated that in furtherance of Order 172 (3) of the Standing Orders, his name and other names of all the nominees were published in newspapers with national circulation for the attention of the general public.
The committee, also through the publication, requested memoranda in respect of his nomination from the general public, the report stated and continued that the committee subsequently sought and obtained confidential reports in respect of the nominee from the Ghana Police Service and the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB).
The committee also requested and obtained Tax Status Reports on the nominee from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
KayayieHostel
Mr. Ofori-Atta said during the vetting that the thrust of the issues surrounding the provision of accommodation for the Kayayes must be refocused.
On the issue of tax hikes, the nominee explained that the government was compelled to undertake such measures because of the national resource constraints which were occasioned by the COVID-19 expenditures, energy debt obligations, and the urgent need to resolve sanitation challenges of the country.
According to him, the government shared in the concern about current difficulties Ghanaians were going through but had to take the hard decision of imposing a tax as a way of burden-sharing arrangement to continue with the transformational agenda of the country.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House