Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the deputy majority in parliament, has urged the minority to provide Ken Ofori-Atta the chance to respond to claims that served as the foundation for a vote of censure against him.
He contends that the finance minister must be given the chance to address each accusation made against him, either through a lawyer or on his own.
He added that the claims and requests for the expulsion of the finance minister from the house by the minority must be supported by evidence.
Even if he is not opposed to the motion, the deputy majority leader claims he is against the method being used to demand his departure because the minister has been refused
“The minister is entitled to be heard. You cannot take away the right to fair hearing from a respondent. So Mr. Speaker, my view is that we have a serious matter as censure and the applicants have not served the minister, neither have they served the basis on which they mounted their application.””Mr. Speaker I am not against their motion, it is your right to bring your application, I am interested in the procedure and let’s not do things for political expedience because one day it will come and hunt us,” he added.In response to this, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu said the Deputy Majority Leader must show respect to the Speaker as he has already given his ruling on the motion.“The Speaker has ruled, and we must show respect to the Speaker. If there are any disagreements with the ruling, they know what to do. Ordinarily, any civilized democracy in the world, you don’t even need a motion for the minister of finance to go home. He, upon self-appraisal of where he has led the country and economy, in all conscience, will bow out and save the nation. So, we have brought a competent motion, he said.