Speaker Summons Ofori-Atta To Account For Covid-19 Expenditure
The Speaker of Parliament has summoned the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to appear before the House and account for covid-19 pandemic expenditure.
Mr. Bagbin ordered the Minister to provide a detailed breakdown of all monies approved by his ministry and how it was used during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The directive came after the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Kweku Kwarteng moved the motion for the approval of €75 million for the Covid-19 health response project.
Moreover, the Minority in Parliament refused to move the motion which leads the House into a state of disagreement.
The Speaker listen to the Members of Parliament (MPs) and directed the Finance Minister to appear before the house to account for the Covid-19 expenditure.
He insisted that until that is done, the approval of the loan would be suspended, “So I will complete my submission by directing that the Finance Minister should appear before this House and account for all the monies that have been approved for the utilization of Covid-19 management.”
He said, “It is only then that this motion would be expressed on the floor again to approve or disapprove.”
Mr. Bagbin added that the legislative arm of government wields the power to make the executive accountable, therefore, his order is in line with making the government transparent and accountable to the people of Ghana.
“People of Ghana have been blaming the executive arm of government for some of these things, but I think it is Parliament that should be blamed. We have all it takes to make sure the right thing is done so it is Parliament that is weak.”
In his submission, Mr. Bagbin said that Parliament does not approve the government’s decision to go for a domestic loan since it will be more expensive.
