Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has alleged that Members of Parliament (MPs) from both the majority and minority causes of the House planned their moves to get Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta sacked.

In a statement he issued which was sighted by GhanaWeb, Amidu intimated that the MPs had no intentions of getting Ofori-Atta sacked but were only showing face to save their parliamentary seats.

He added that the MPs were using their call for Ofori-Atta's sack to exonerate themselves from the current hardships in the country.

“The sacrifice of the national good of our country by our elected members of parliament for their personal selfishness and partisan interest in contravention of the letter and the spirit of the 1992 Constitution is the main, and indeed the sole reason why for some time now, “Everyday things are getting worse” for the economic and social survival of the ordinary Ghanaian who elected them.

“The simultaneous display of gamesmanship and posturing on 25 October 2022 by both the majority members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Parliament and the minority members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Parliament was a planned, rehearsed, and executed manoeuvre actuated by a selfish self-preservation interest of the members of parliament to secure their chances of re-election to Parliament at the 2024 parliamentary elections. The majority and minority members of parliament bear more responsibility and blame for failing in their oversight responsibilities over the executive branch of government that has brought the country to its present sorry state of hardship and poverty.

“The gamesmanship that began on 25 October 2022 was a clever but unsophisticated way of seeking to divert the attention of their constituents and the public generally from the self-serving compromises they made with the executive in the performance of their constitutional functions that has led our dear country to our current messy situation for the first time in our history,” parts of the statement read.

He added that the failure of the MPs from the minority and majority caucuses to come together to attain their common objective of getting Ofori-Atta sacked is proof that they were all pursuing their own selfish interest and not the interest of ordinary citizens.

The Minority and Majority Members of Parliament seem to be on the same page following their call to remove the finance minister from office.

While the Minority in Parliament has filed a motion to have Ken Ofori-Atta sacked, the Majority also threatened to boycott the 2023 budget presentation if the finance minister is not relieved of his post.

But the Majority did not support the censure motion by the minority saying that they do not agree with the reasons they (the minority) have given.

You can also watch this edition of GhanaWeb Special:



You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV:



IB/PEN