Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kintampo North Constituency, Joseph Kumah, asserts the 80 Majority MPs were quick to rescind their demands for the dismissal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta as they dreaded the wrath of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) they belong to.
He described their U-turn as not surprising as these majority MPs fear to admit to the ills of the party and when they do dare do so, they run back quickly to take back their statements over fear of insults and blacklisting by the party and its members.
On Tuesday, October 25, 80 out of the 137 Majority MPs demanded the sacking of the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu-Boahen citing their poor management of the country’s fiscal space.
Their move was applauded by the general public and other groups who have in the past called for similar action to be taken.
However after a meeting with President Akufo-Addo, the MPs in a U-turn later acceded to the President’s appeal to allow Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu-Boahen stay in office till after the IMF deal is sorted out and the 2023 Budget is presented to Parliament.
In an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning show, Joseph Kumah said, “The U-turn was not surprising because in politics the majority party always admits the flaws of the party to us in meetings but fear to do so publicly because they fear insults from the party and its faithful. They would rather support the wrongs of the party. But the truth is the 80 MPs feared reprisal attacks from the party, hence the U-turn.”
He reiterated the need for the Finance Minister to resign or be fired by the President.
Capitalizing on the popular ‘we have the men’ slogan of the NPP, he encouraged them to replace ‘their’ finance minister with their other competent finance gurus.