Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has described the calls for his dismissal as the Finance Minister from both his party lawmakers and the opposition party lawmakers as an establishment of democracy and a case of freedom of speech.
He made this statement when he appeared on GTV’s Talking Point show on Sunday, August 6, 2023.
The Finance Minister who has come under a series of attacks and backlash over the economic mishaps of the country in recent periods and also for his return to the International Monetary Fund for a bail-out explained that he was not perturbed by the calls from some party colleagues, Civil groups and opposition political members in the country for his resignation. He said those periods were very difficult times both Ghanaians and the entire country were going through so he had an understanding of how expressive his resignation callers were.
According to him, during those difficult moments, he and his team at the ministry had to keep their focus on mitigating the economic burden that was hanging around the necks of Ghanaians and did not allow the resignation calls to sway him.
He acknowledged Parliament’s censure vote which resulted in the opposite of the calls, and explained that it proved a case of how democratic the country is. He reiterated that he had a duty to serve and was not ready to run away because he was firm on turning things around the corner.
Ofori-Atta also affirmed that the situation around those periods was battered and broken and that gave the urgency for his team to work around the clock to meet every requirement of the International Monetary Fund which has been successfully done.
He further stated that the final decisions on his removal from office rested on the signatures of the President of the country and to the best of his knowledge, every appointee rarely served to the pleasure of the president so that greased his elbow to make sure confidence is restored into the economy of the country.