The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, said on Thursday, June 16, 2022, that the Parliament will not take any motions from the Ministry of Finance until all pending questions are answered, and the Covid-19 expenditure statement is delivered by the outfit.
“Until we go through the accountability process, we will not take that motion…Today, he has another request before us. That will also be affected,” Mr. Bagbin fumed.
“Until he comes to respond to the questions and submit the statement explaining to us how the money has been applied, we will not entertain any business from that Ministry,” the Speaker added.
The Finance Minister, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta was scheduled to answer questions and deliver an important statement in the House on Thursday, June 16, 2022.
The Minister has 16 questions to answer on a number of issues including the utilisation of the Covid-19 funds.
In support of the Speaker’s directive, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu stated that it is critical for the Minister of Finance to answer questions about the use of the Covid 19 funds, as there have been claims about how the funds were distributed to party individuals for the 2020 election campaign.
Following the postponement of the session, the Majority Leader, Mr. Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, defended the Minister.
According to Mr. Kyei-Mensah the Minister is not ‘running away’ from accountability however, he is yet to go over the responses to the questions he is expected to deliver in Parliament.
“The Minister met me yesterday and pleaded that he should see them [the questions] first, read them and appreciate what the technical people have brought and if there are any other matters to be added on he will do so before he comes to this House so that he will be able to give a comprehensive response,” he said.
The Speaker has therefore said the Finance Minister should appear before the House on Wednesday, June 22, 2022.
