The eighty (80) New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs who originally advocated for the dismissal of the Finance Minister have now announced they won’t back the opposition’s censure vote.
The Majority group, led by Effiduase/Asokore MP Nana Ayew Afriyie, declared at a news conference on Thursday morning that they refuse to support the Minority’s resolution to remove the Finance Minister, although maintaining their original determination to do so.
We will not be backing the NDC’s strategy this morning. The NDC’s strategy rests on unsubstantiated claims and misleading propaganda. “Even if their stance seems similar to ours, we’re really at a very different place,” Ayew Afriyie said.
A vote of censure against the Finance Minister on the grounds of a conflict of interest and other issues is likely to be introduced by the Minority caucus in Parliament.
To remove the Finance Minister from office, two-thirds of parliament members must approve of the censure motion.
Members of Parliament from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have generally placed the responsibility for the country’s economic troubles on the Finance Minister, whom they accuse of going beyond the powers of the position.
If this resolution is approved, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would be compelled to dismiss his finance minister.
In a previous interview with Accra’s Citi News, Deputy Minority Chief Whip Ahmed Ibrahim said that his group has been in contact with certain members of the Majority caucus and is prepared to go through with the motion.
