Mark My Words, We Won’t Do Any Business With You Until You Render An Account – Speaker To Ofori-Atta
Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has declared that the House would not consider any business from the Finance Ministry until sector Minister Ken Ofori Atta appears before the House to explain how the Covid-19 monies were spent.
Mr Bagbin stated in the House on Thursday, June 16 that many questions have been raised regarding how the administration handled the cash, and that the Finance Minister must respond.
Mr Ofori-Atta, on the other hand, has not been able to appear in Parliament to present a breakdown of how the funds were spent, according to him.
“Yes, last week, for good reasons, [his appearance in parliament] wasn’t possible and usually the Business Committee is given the opportunity to do the allotting. So the Minister for Finance was allotted today to come and answer a number of questions. The Minister is not available today, we are told.
“The Minister spoke to me why he is not available today but before today, I had given a directive and that directive was to the effect that the Minister should appear before this House to account for monies that we approved for him to use to lead the country as a ministry for us to see how we respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“A lot of questions have been raised in respect of that so he should come to account to the good people of how that state resources have been applied by his Ministry to the benefit of the people. I did indicate that until that is done, the motion that requested the approval of this house, for more monies to be given him, that is his ministry, for the purpose of Covid-19 be on the hold until he answers the questions, I think that still holds.
“I will go further to say that until the answer is provided, until he goes through the accountability process, we will not take that motion. With respect to the questions, well, today he has another request before us, that will also be affected, until he comes to respond to the questions and to submit the statement, given explanation, as to how that money has been applied, we will not entertain any business from that ministry, mark my words,” Mr Bagbins aid.
If President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo respects the Constitution, he must allow a review into Covid -19 spending, according to the Minority in Parliament.
Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu stated the 1992 Constitution was founded on probity and accountability when speaking to the press in Parliament on Tuesday, May 31.
To that end, he argued, if the President respects the Constitution, he must explain how the money were spent.
“If president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has any respect for the tenets and values of accountability and transparency, then he should to authorize a pubic probe or inquiry into how the over ¢19bn Covid monies were disbursed.”
“We are further scandalized and we are calling on president Nana Akufo-Addo and reminding him that the 1992 Constitution is premised on probity and accountability and that if he has nay respect for the values and integrity let him probe Covid spending,” he added.
Source: 3news.com
