Ghana’s finance minister apologizes, refutes corruption allegations.
Ghana’s finance minister, Kenneth Ofori-Atta has told Ghanaians that he’s ‘truly sorry’ for the country’s continued economic crisis.
Was he found guilty of any financial misconduct?
Not exactly, but he has been under severe criticism from lawmakers of Ghana’s major political parties, who have called on President Nana AKufo-Addo to remove him from office, following allegations from the opposition that he was benefitting from the country’s economic woes through “illegal payments, unethical contracts, and other charges”.
Parliament set up a committee last week to investigate the allegations against him. In his first public response to the matter, Ofori-Atta described the allegations as baseless and defended himself against the accusation that he was unfit to be a minister, adding that he was concerned about the country’s economic situation.
“I acknowledge our economy is facing difficulties and the people of Ghana are enduring hardship.
“As the person, President Akufo-Addo has put in charge of this economy, I feel the pain personally, professionally and in my soul” Ofori-Atta said.
The finance minister also expressed optimism, noting that by the end of the committee’s hearing, “the unfounded doubts about my motives, my competence and character would have been dispelled”.
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What is the committee saying?
The parliamentary committee is expected to meet to investigate the allegations against the minister, before presenting a motion of censure (vote of no confidence) to the parliament divided between the ruling NPP and the opposition NDC. It is the final verdict of the parliament that the president would then take a final decision on – to either sack or retain him as minister. Ghana has continued to face what seems to be its worst economic crisis since independence, causing its currency, the GH cedi to plummet by over 40% and consumer inflation to hit a 21-year high of 40.4% in October while import cost continues to skyrocket. President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government has also been negotiating about 3billion dollars loan facility from IMF to help scale up public
