If you backtrack, you'll regret it - Muntaka cautions NPP MPs' decision on Ofori-Atta

The Minority Chief Whip in Parliament, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, has told the Members of Parliament on the majority side that their decision not to support the removal of the finance minister is something they will live to regret.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs have filed a motion in the House calling for a vote of censure against the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, over his poor performance in managing the economy.

Some weeks ago, 80 MPs from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), forming the majority in parliament, made an unprecedented move when they addressed a press conference, calling on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to sack the finance minister and his counterpart, the Minister of State in charge of Finance, Charles Adu Boahene.

The MPs explained at the time that the poor performance of their party member had caused a lot of hardships in the country, adversely affecting their constituents, and for this reason they wanted him out.

However, since then, the MPs have backed down a little after they had a meeting with the president.

But when he got up in parliament on Thursday, November 10, 2022, to second the motion moved by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, the Chief Whip, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, told his colleagues on the other side that it would be an error for them to turn their backs now.

“Our failure today to remove the finance minister will continue to hurt each and every one of us. It will continue to hurt our constituents. It will continue to hurt the economy, it will continue to hurt businesses; businesses are collapsing, ordinary citizens are now struggling to feed themselves.

“This is a responsibility for all of us and I just want to, Mr. Speaker, urge my colleagues, especially the ‘Rambo 80,’ to have at the back of their mind, ‘You have a reason for rebelling.’ You know this is a finance minister who doesn’t listen. You know the efforts that you’ve made severally to get him to do the right things and he refused. Those are the reasons that led you to rebel.

“I can assure you that if you backtrack, you will regret it because you know the kind of president and his family that you have: they will surely come after you,” he said.

The MP for Asawase further called on the NPP MPs to support their motion for the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta as the Minister of Finance so that they can, together, save the country from all the economic mess it is going through.

“It is better today; you help us to remove him. It will give you mileage, and it will make people believe you. All the rumour that was going round that people made an attempt to bribe you, today, you need to justify it. You need to prove to the world that you were never bribed, that you were never influenced,” he added.

Earlier, the NPP MPs, led by the Effiduase Asokore legislator, addressed a press briefing where they indicated that while they still hold the view that Ofori-Atta and his counterpart should go, they would not support the motion by their colleagues in the NDC for a vote of censure against him.

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