The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has imposed a temporary block on all activity from the Ministry of Finance till the sector Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, appears before the house to address some 16 standing questions.
Mr. Ofori-Atta has been asked to testify before the legislative branch of government several times in recent weeks to address inquiries, chief among them how much money has been spent on COVID-19 so far by the government. However, he has declined to come before parliament on each occasion, citing reasons for other government involvements and more time to prepare answers.
The Speaker, who seemed dissatisfied with the minister’s continuous absence from the chamber, also requested that the Finance Committee halt all discussions about a €75 million facility for a COVID-19 response program that was up for discussion.
“Until he comes to respond to the questions and to submit the statement giving an explanation as to how the money has been applied, we will not entertain any business from that ministry,” he stated on Thursday, June 16.
No Hearing until Finance Minister Shows Up
Following a discussion with the house leadership, the Speaker made his decision. He referenced Standing Order 61 of Parliament to support his claim that when ministers were questioned, the House expected them to appear and respond.
The Standing Order 61 states that “Ministers shall by Order of the House be requested to attend to sittings of the House to answer questions asked of them”.
According to Mr. Bagbin, the Business Committee of the House was given the chance to make the allocation in accordance with the Standing Rules of Parliament, and as a result, June 16 was set aside for the finance minister to appear and respond to some inquiries made in the name of his ministry.
“The finance minister told us that he will not be available today and before today, I gave a directive to the effect that the minister appears before this House to account for money that we approved for him to use to lead the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A lot of questions have been raised so we expected the minister to come and account as to how state resources had been applied to the benefit of the people. I just indicated that until that is done, a motion requesting for approval of the House for money to be given to the Ministry of Finance for the purpose of the COVID-19 will be on hold,” he stated.
Displeasure of Minority
The issue was brought up on the House floor by Ahmed Ibrahim, the deputy minority chief whip, who said the finance minister appeared to be taking Parliament for granted. He added that the House’s monitoring role should not be taken lightly.
Mr. Ibrahim claimed that the minister was dodging responsibility since he failed to come before the chamber.
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, added that in the interest of Ghanaians, the minority demanded accountability for the Ghc9.7 billion COVID-19 expenses.