New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Subin, Eugene Boakye Antwi has noted that the decision to keep Ken Ofori-Atta in office as Minister for Finance despite the state of the economy he has supervised remains a prerogative of president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
However, the MP who has been at the forefront of calls on the president to sack the minister for his performance has emphasised that Ofori-Atta’s stay in office remains at the expense of the president’s legacy.
“If the president with all his executive powers feels that Ken Ofori-Atta is the best person to manage the financial affairs or economic affairs of this country, it’s president Akufo-Addo’s government, it’s his legacy. I have stated my position, everybody in this country, the world over knows my position on Ken Ofori-Atta,” he stated in a JoyNews interview.
In the face of harsh economic crisis sometime last year, some members of the current government including members of parliament on the NPP ticket called on President Akufo-Addo to sack the minister.
However, the president in response asked that the issue be relegated until Ghana’s negotiation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for economic support is finally resolved and the 2023 budget presented and appropriated.
Eugene Boakye Antwi said the call for Ofori-Atta’s sacking was nothing personal but in the interest of the fortunes of the NPP in the upcoming general election in 2024.
“If the members of his government are not performing it affects the fortunes of the party so we have every right to attack him. We are not attacking him because we want to feel more powerful than the president, no. But if a particular minister we feel that his actions or inactions will affect the fortunes of the party, we have to state it to the president,” he said.
He emphasised that there will be no reason in pushing further the calls for the minister’s removal if the president remains adamant.
