On Tuesday, October 25, the Minority Caucus in Parliament said on the floor of the chamber that they would introduce a motion of censure to remove Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.

The action came after a news conference by a number of parliamentarians from the ruling New Patriotic Party who had specifically urged that Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen, the minister of state for finance, be replaced by the president.

While the minority MPs cited seven grounds for their position that Ofori-Atta should be censured and then removed from office, the breakaway MPs mostly cited the status of the economy and the weakening cedi.

Seeing that their current number of 137 members is not enough to achieve the two-thirds threshold to remove the embattled minister, the deputy Minority Chief Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim, called on the over 80 NPP MPs to join them in the vote of censure against the minister.

Below are the seven points for which the Minority want Ofori-Atta censured:

a. Despicable conflict of interest ensuring that he directly benefits from Ghana’s economic woes as his companies receive commissions and other unethical contractual advantages, particularly from Ghana’s debt overhang

b. Unconstitutional withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund in blatant contravention of Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution, supposedly for the construction of the President’s Cathedral.

c. Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution.

d. Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament

e. Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghana Cedi which is currently the worst-performing currency in the world

f. Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude, resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and an excruciating cost of living crisis

g. Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship

The motion of censure is expected to be filed today when the House convenes for business. The Minority have released a document that bears the signatures of an overwhelming majority of their members.