Censorship motion: Ken Ofori-Atta insists on a fair hearing

Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has asked the Minority caucus in Parliament to furnish him with documents that they will rely upon to execute the motion of censure initiated against him.

This is according to the Minister's lawyer, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, who made the request on behalf of Ken Ofori-Atta on Tuesday morning when the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee commenced sitting to hear the motion.

Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko said the rules of natural justice and fair hearing required that the accused was not only heard but was furnished with the documents that formed the bases of the allegations made against him.

He, therefore, insisted that the Minority, led by its Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, provide the documents to him and his client.

The request was met with hesitance from the Minority, who appeared unprepared and insisted that the documents were already in the public domain and did not have to be tendered.

Following a debate on the matter, co-Chairs of the Committee K.T. Hammond and Dr Dominic Ayine, ruled that the Minority presented the documents to the finance minister and the committee.

The documents were then subsequently listed.

Below are the seven-points for which the Minority want Ofori-Atta censured:

a. Despicable conflict of interest ensuring that he directly benefits from Ghana’s economic woes as his companies receive commissions and other unethical contractual advantages particularly from Ghana’s debt overhang

b. Unconstitutional withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund in blatant contravention of Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution, supposedly for the construction of the President’s Cathedral.

c. Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution.

d. Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament

e. Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghana Cedi which is currently the worst-performing currency in the world

f. Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude, resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and an excruciating cost of living crisis

g. Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship

FNOQ