(L) Former Trade Minister, KT Hammond and former Deputy Minister for Finance, Kwaku Kwarteng (R)
Former Minister for Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, has revealed that he orchestrated the removal of the Member of Parliament for Obuasi West, Kwaku Agyeman Kwarteng, as Chairman of the Finance Committee over what he described as disloyalty to the erstwhile Akufo-Addo government.
According to KT Hammond, the Deputy Finance Minister, whose committee was responsible for approving tax exemptions for companies under the government’s ‘One District, One Factory’ policy, openly opposed the policy introduced by his own government.
“Listen, do you think I am happy with everything that we did during our time in government? When things are happening and you are not happy about them, there is what we call unity in government and loyalty. For those in the NDC, they all follow when they are directed to, but in the NPP, people want to act wise. It is alright to be wise, but when you are overly wise, it becomes problematic, so you have to be patient. If we are in government and you see certain things you don’t like, you can say it gently.
“Do you think we were happy with everything? But you just have to go in there and say your piece. You don’t have to come into the public and spill it all out; fighting your own government cannot be loyalty. It breeds disunity,” he stated in an interview shared by Obuasi TV on Facebook on September 11, 2025.
KT Hammond noted that although the policy had received cabinet approval, the then-Chairman of the Finance Committee openly resisted it, a situation that prompted him to orchestrate and lead Kwaku Kwarteng’s removal from the position.
Kwaku Kwarteng removed as Chair of Finance Committee, reassigned as Economy Committee Chair
“Kwaku Kwarteng was appointed Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament to oversee government’s finance policies. Government had a policy where companies whose activities were under my trade ministry were offered tax exemptions. As a tax policy, it was a government policy approved by Cabinet and approved by Parliament. As Chairman of the committee, you had to oversee its approval for government.
“Whether you like it or not, you need to do what your government wants. If some of them are not good, we go and point out that this is not okay, but you don’t come out to rant in public. Kwaku Kwarteng fought me fiercely; that the tax exemptions that my ministry was seeking to support 1D1F (One District One Factory), you won’t support it. You fought me; when I say this, you say that you will cancel it,” he stated.
He added, “What I am talking about is not a secret. I reported him to the presidency; I was with the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu; we go and talk about it, and when we return, the Chairman will not budge. Because of that, I personally, through my leadership in Parliament and the leaders of our Caucus, said if this gentleman who is the Chairman of the committee remains, things will collapse, so let’s remove him. I was part when we removed him.”
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In June 2024, the then-Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, announced the reassignment of Kwaku Kwarteng as Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament to the position of Chairman of the Economy Committee of the House.
The Majority Leader, at the time of the announcement, attributed the removal as a proactive move taken by the Majority ahead of the 2024 elections to challenge the then-Minority’s Isaac Adongo, the ranking member at the time.
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