The Council of Elders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are expected to meet President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo in the coming days as calls intensify for the dismissal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta.
The notice comes as former President, John Agyekum Kufuor also meets the 98 NPP Members of Parliament who have openly served notice they will boycott the presentation of the 2023 budget.
It is not clear if the Council of Elders will further press the button following widespread rumours about sharp division within the party over what some describe as hijacking by few confidants of the President Nana Akufo Addo, pressing him to ignore the demand.
A member of the Council of Elders and former Chief of Staff in the Kufuor administration, Mr. Kwadwo Mpianim who disclosed this said the leadership of the party have already met and would want to have further engagements with the President on the way forward.
Mr Mpianim who spoke on Accra based Joy FM however said the Council has not yet taken a stance on matter.
Kufuor to Intervene?
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor is said to have invited the 98 NPP MPs threatening to boycott the 2023 budget presentation.
The meeting, according to sources is an attempt to calm tension following the stand off which led to the trade of words between Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu and party stalwart Gabby Asare Otchere Darko, a cousin of the Finance Minister, who is said to have accused the Suame MP of masterminding the demand by the Majority caucus.
Spokesperson for the agitating MPs Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi publicly said recently that their resolve is non-negotiable.
“We’ve gone back to (our demand for the President to) sack him now and therefore should the budget be presented under the stamp of the Finance Minister, we’ll not participate because as far as we’re concerned we’re never going to do business with him.
“And if we’re not going to do business with him, he does not participate in any process from the Presidency to the House. We will not participate in deliberations too.”
A group sympathetic to the NPP, the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), has also joined calls for the Finance Minister’s removal.
