(3 minutes read)
Ghana’s Finance Minister Kenneth Ofori-Atta escaped a vote of no confidence in parliament as the opposition failed to get two-third votes to oust him from office. The ruling party lawmakers managed to get a vote on his handling of the country’s economic crisis. President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government is currently negotiating a US $3 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) to tide over the worst financial crisis the west African country is facing now.
Opposition lawmakers in parliament were divided between the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in seeking to oust the finance minister over a series of allegations. The opposition minority voted 136 votes in favour of censure, much less than the two-thirds majority required to oust the minister.
Most of the NPP lawmakers had walked out before the vote. President Akufo-Addo has called on Ghanaians to support his efforts to manage the crisis as inflation has reached 40%. The national currency, the cedi, has devalued by more than 50% against the dollar. Ghana is a major producer of cocoa and gold and has oil and gas reserves. But its debt service payments have soared as the consequences of the global pandemic and the war in Ukraine were impacting the country.
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Presently, an IMF team is in Ghana to hold discussions with the government regarding the terms of the agreement. Opposition lawmakers allege misappropriation of public funds and inefficiency in handling the financial issues by the government. The president has the final say in removing a minister from office.
