Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asah Asante, has bemoaned the inconsistency of the over 80 New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MPs) who are calling for the head of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
According to him, the MPs seem to not know what they want, and they have been changing their stance on Ofori-Atta being discharged from his duties.
Speaking in an interview on Peace FM, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, Dr. Asante added that if the MPs fail to stick to their demands, Ghanaians, including their constituents, will stop taking them seriously.
“At first, 80 NPP MPs, including my classmate Andy Appiah, were demanding that Ofori-Atta and Adu Boahen be sacked by the president and threatened to stay off government business if their demands were not heard.
“Then just a few days later they came and said they met the president and that they have agreed to let the finance minister prepare and read the 2023 budget as well as finish the negotiations with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) before he is sacked. Then the majority leader, who was speaking in an interview with Joy (FM), said that all the majority MPs are on board with the sacking of Ofori-Atta.
“Now the NPP MPs (anti-Ofori-Atta MPs) are now saying that they are back to their original position. My question to the NPP MPs calling for Ofori-Atta’s head, who say they are now 98, is: what exactly do they want? Because I’m starting to get confused,” he said in Twi.
“If they are going to be cold, they should be cold, and if they want to be hot, they should be hot.” They should stop going back and forth. What they are doing now has consequences. It will get to a point where nobody, including their constituents, will listen to them,” he added.
Meanwhile, the over 80 NPP MPs who demanded that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo relieve Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta have reaffirmed their decision.
According to the MPs, they are not in agreement with President Akufo-Addo’s request for Ofori-Atta to read and see the 2023 budget through appropriation.
The MP for Effiduase-Asokore, Nana Ayew Afriyie, who spoke on behalf of the over 80 NPPs at Parliament on Thursday (November 10), said that they have decided that Ofori-Atta should not be the one to read the budget or lead the subsequent process.
Watch Dr. Asante’s interview below:
