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Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has finally responded to calls for his resignation.

NPP MPs' threat

More than 90 NPP MPs held a press conference demanding the dismissal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta and Charles Adu Boahen, Minister of State at the Finance Ministry.

They threatened to boycott parliamentary business should President Akufo-Addo refuse to sack them.

"If our request is not responded to positively, we will not be present for the budget hearing, neither will we participate in the debate," the MPs said.

Subsequently, the President, following the MPs' protest, held an emergency meeting with them, pleading for some time.

According to a statement from the Majority caucus, the President wants Ken Ofori-Atta to conclude with "the round of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the presentation of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy in November 2022 and the subsequent passage of the Appropriation Bill after which time the demand will be acted upon.”

Majority caucus align

In a latest development, Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has indicated that all NPP MPs are now in support of the calls for the Finance Minister to be sacked.

“Even though the issue started with the group of 80 plus, the caucus meeting aligned with the position of that group, so it is no longer the cause of the 80 plus MPs. It is the agenda for the entire caucus and we are having some discussions on that,” he said.

Ofori Atta's aches & pains

Finance Minister reacting to these calls while addressing Members of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) on Thursday said: “You have a Finance Minister who has gone through all the pains and aches, and nobody can really come and say ‘we don’t understand what we’re doing’...Let me assure you all that your best bet is still Ghana; we can do it and we should do it".

The question is ‘what resources do we have’ and ‘how we’re going to deploy them in the nation that we have’… and how do we stand firm in very difficult circumstances by being very confident that the nation is purposed for greatness and you are blessed to have the opportunity to lead where we are going” he added.