The Member of Parliament (MP) for the North Tongu constituency has called on Parliament to initiate processes to remove Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta from office.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said this has become necessary due to his supervision of some unbudgeted funds that were released towards the construction of the National Cathedral.
The NDC MP was speaking in relation to his latest allegation that the Minister in 2020 released an amount of GH¢142 for a supposed “planned activities” around the project.
This release, he said, was done upon the request of the Chief of Staff at the Presidency.
“On October 29, 2020; Ken Ofori-Atta at the request of President Akufo-Addo’s Chief of Staff, Frema Osei Opare, authorized the release of a gargantuan ¢142.7million for the National Cathedral.
The outspoken legislator who was speaking on JoyFM‘s Super Morning Show on Wednesday, June 8, described the move by the Finance Minister as a “grave constitutional violation.”
“I take the view that the Finance Minister must pay for this,” he said.
He added that the Finance Minister should be hauled before Parliament and made to account for the funds.
“We must set a good precedent and deter others who in the future would engage in such naked dissipation,” he stressed.
The MP in his social media post on Wednesday, June 8, said so far, GH¢200 million illegal funds have been released towards the project.
The lawmaker has been on a crusade against the release of unbudgeted funds for the project.
He had earlier claimed that the government released an amount of ¢32 million to Sir David Adjaye & Associates Limited in 2021, an allegation, the Deputy Finance Minister, John Kumah has justified.
He said the amount was paid from the Office of the President’s budget. As a result, he said the payment was legal.
“Even though it may not be captured as a budget item because it is not under any specific MDA, it can form part of government expenditure as long as we have captured it in the budget that we were going to provide seed funding,” he said.
Source: TheHeraldghana