Former Works and Housing Minister and Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has accused the Majority in Parliament of preventing the public from hearing responses from the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) because, according to him, the Governor would not support their “propaganda.”
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the BoG Governor had already submitted written responses to questions from Parliament, which were expected to form the basis of his appearance before the House’s committee.
He questioned why the Majority would prevent the Governor from appearing publicly to answer follow-up questions when he was prepared to provide explanations.
“The Bank of Ghana Governor has already given us written responses, and those were the preliminary answers he was supposed to provide on the floor of Parliament. That was the meeting we were expecting to have with him,” he said.
“Why is the Majority always doing propaganda and misleading the public when we already know the truth? The Governor and his team came prepared to tell us the truth, but they prevented him from coming out to do so.”
Mr Oppong Nkrumah argued that the Governor, as a professional, would not come before Parliament to lie or engage in political arguments.
“The Governor will not come and lie, and he will not come and do propaganda. That is why they are preventing him from appearing, because they know their narrative will be exposed,” he stated.
The MP further alleged that the Majority had previously blocked other attempts by the Minority to investigate issues relating to the Bank of Ghana and gold management.
He cited an earlier request by MP Patrick Boamah, for the BoG Governor to appear before Parliament to explain issues surrounding Ghana’s gold reserves since independence.
According to him, another attempt by the Minority to investigate the operations of the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), particularly concerns surrounding the gold purchasing programme, was also rejected.
“So this is the third time they have blocked us. We tried different approaches, and each time they stopped us from getting answers from the Governor,” he said.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah stressed that Parliament has a constitutional responsibility to hold the Executive accountable and said the Minority would explore other lawful avenues to ensure Ghanaians get answers.
“We have a responsibility to exercise oversight over the Executive. If one avenue is blocked, we will use other avenues permitted by law so that the people of Ghana will know the truth about what is happening,” he added.
His comments follow Parliament’s decision to hold committee proceedings involving the Bank of Ghana Governor behind closed doors, with the Majority insisting that the decision was consistent with Parliament’s Standing Orders and established practice.
ALSO READ:
