Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance, is expected to testify before Parliament tomorrow about the government's spending since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic in the country in 2020.
Last Thursday, June 16, 2022, the Finance Minister was scheduled to appear before the House to inform the House on the government's COVID-19 expenditure and to address 16 questions from Members of Parliament (MPs) about his ministry, but he was unable to do so owing to circumstances beyond his control.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business in Parliament, announced this on Friday, June 17, 2022, when he gave the business statement for the week.
The sitting for this week starts now and finishes on Friday, June 24, 2022.
"Mr Speaker, as indicated in this week's business statement, the minister responsible for finance was scheduled to attend the House on Thursday, June 16, 2022 to brief Parliament on the expenditure incurred by government since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who presented the statement.
"Mr. Speaker, owing to circumstances beyond his control, the Minister of Finance was unable to attend the House to inform members on the topic. Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance is scheduled to address the House on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, to provide an update on the government's COVID-19 spending "he explained.
The Minority caucus highlighted the matter of the Finance Minister's non-availability to update the House on COVID-19 expenditure during last week's sitting.
On that subject, Speaker Alban Bagbin restated his earlier direction that the House will not take up any business from the Ministry of Finance until the sector minister answered to the inquiries and updated the House on the COVID-19 spending.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, on the other hand, told the House that the Finance Minister will be available to brief the House and answer the 16 questions posed in his ministry's name on Wednesday, June 22, 2022.
National Security Minister
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stated that the leadership was still consulting with the Minister of National Security to get a briefing on the situation.
Parliament is meeting in closed session to discuss national security issues, notably the recent wave of terrorist incidents in the West African sub-region.
During the week, he added, members will be informed of the briefing's date.
Questions
Apart from the Finance Minister, the Business Committee of Parliament has scheduled six additional Ministers of State to answer questions over the week.
Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, Minister of Transport; Cecilia Abena Dapaah, Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources; Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communications and Digitalisation; Ignatius Baffour Awuah, Minister of Employment and Labour Relations; Kwasi Amoako-Attah, Minister of Roads and Highways; and a Minister of State in the President's Office.