Author: Kwaku GhanaMPs

Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga has urged his colleagues to take the 2025 post budget workshop seriously; stating that they should not assume that ones the budget is presented everybody understands it.

“We need to enhance the opportunity for all of us to understand the budget beyond just reading it”, he stated in his open remarks on Saturday, March 15, 2025, at the post budget workshop.

“I hope we accept that it is our responsibility to accept and reject the budget; that is what we are to do. The budget statement contains policy statement and also estimates figures; not all of us are good with policies and figures”.

Mr Ayariga further noted that the post budget workshop is to help MPs understand the budget and policy statement and what is contained in the figures and the implications for their constituents, for the market women, okada riders, teachers and students.

“We are not all economists and finance experts; whiles experts in the various fields have been assembled to help us in this direction to understand the policy document, when all is done, we expect the Majority side MPs to relate this figures and policies to the commitment we made to Ghanaians based on which they elected us, and how this would help in achieving the reset agenda.

For the Minority, we expect you to be very critical of the document and to see how they can expose the weakness in the budget, so that as a country we can be well guided when we are considering the approval.”

The Leader of the House urged the MPs to pay attention and learn, cautioning them not to assume they know it all and avoid the exercise.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Minister for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has given indications that the Bank of Ghana would be re-structured this year to strengthen its independence for it to operate efficiently to deliver for the people of Ghana, particularly in areas of price and exchange risk stability.

According to him Government also intends to formalize the export of Ghanaian labour to other countries and introducing measures that would protect the Ghanaian who is working abroad.

At the opening of a three-day post budget workshop for MPs in Parliament House, he noted that, they have adopted an innovative approach to address some of our long-standing problems, including reduction of the tax refund ceiling to close the gap of elimination of some of the taxes that were introduced.

He stated that the government is uncapping the National Health Insurance (NHI), the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), and the road fund as well as some critical government expenditures. Additionally, he is providing sustainable sources of funding for the free secondary education and free tertiary education for persons with disabilities.

He proposed to the House that the ADFA to be allocated largely for infrastructure – ‘the big push infrastructure’ instead of spreading it so thinly to cover some expenditures that are not desirable.

Again, we are placing a limit on project loan disbursement for both bilateral and multilateral loans within this year. We call on the House to support us ones again as you have done in the past with various finance Ministers, he pleaded.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Minority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin has admonished first-time Members of Parliament to take the three days post budget workshop being organized in parliament seriously and not see it as boring.

According to him MPs should not be too expectant but rather spend time and participate. “Do not walk in and out, stay in and build your capacity and build confidence so that, when the day comes and you are debating and some back benchers are heckling you, you would remain resolute, firm and deliver with the confidence you have developed from this training.”

He added that it is apt to have this budget training programme because it would help their analytical programme, improve their abilities to deal with their inefficiencies and strengthen their oversight functions.

“The Minister of Finance tells us there is one point five billion cedis for agriculture; if you look at the expenditure part, you notice there is some nine hundred million cedis plus has been allocated.

So if you pay attention, these are some of the things you would discover and then you make a meaningful impact in your debate by drawing the attention of the finance minister to this.

You would be able to talk about school feeding has an excess of two billion and other critical areas has less amount, so if you are a member of that committee you would not make a case, he added.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said the Country is dedicated to re-building trust and prevent further division within the West African sub-regional bloc.

According to him President John Dramani Mahama’s diplomatic outreach to the Alliance for Sahel States (AES) and his engagement with key leaders in Burkina Faso Niger and Mali reflect Ghana’s dedication to forest dialogue, re-building trust, and preventing further division within the sub-region.

Ghana, he said would therefore continue to champion dialogue on economic cooperation and security collaboration among all West Africa nations in the sub-region as the future should be built on partnership and not division, cooperation not conflict. Ghana would therefore work closely with our brothers and sisters in AES to rebuild trust, restore good neighborliness, and re-affirm our commitment to a stronger united West Africa.

Again, Ghana stands ready to serve as a “bridge of reconciliation and cooperation given Ghana’s diplomatic influence, it is well positioned to support renewed dialogue and encourage collaboration between ECOWAS and AES nations”.

As a nation committed to Pan Africanism, good neighborliness, regional integration and multilateralism, Ghana would continue to champion constructive engagement, economic cooperation and security collaboration to ensure stable a prosperous future for all West African nations.

The Minister made this known when the Member of Parliament for Suhum Frank Asiedu Bekoe wanted to know how Ghana intends to reconcile AES with ECOWAS taking into cognizance the foreign policy of Ghana on Pan Africanism, good neighborliness, non-alignment and multilateralism.

Mr Okudzeto further told the House Ghana is one of the pioneers of united Africa and its people form a cardinal part of our foreign policy and founding members of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that is why this year the Heads of States have decided that the bloc as part of its fifty (50) year’s celebrations should start here in Accra next month to herald the celebration; and we should note that article 40 of the 1992 Constitution enjoys us that in pursuit of our international relations, we should promote and protect that national interest of Ghana, and that is the principle that guides our foreign policy.

The evolving relation between ECOWAS and the newly formed Alliance for Sahel States, AES is a matter of great significance to the sub-region and Ghana remains committed to the ideas of regional unity, peace, security and economic cooperation, he added.

Additionally, Ghana recognizes the need for diplomatic engagement to bridge the current divide to prevent further fragmentation within West Africa despite the AES formal withdraw from ECOWAS which was finalized at the end of January 2025.

“Free movement of people goods and services remain intact as confirmed by ECOWAS and AES member states. Trade under ECOWAS, the trade liberatlisation scheme continues and AES passports remain recognized. Additionally, ECOWAS funded development projects in AES countries would not be disrupted ensuring economic and infrastructure support.

Security cooperation remains a shared priority, particularly in the fight against terrorisms, violent extremism, and money laundering; the inter-governmental action group against money laundering in West Africa of which Ghana is a member would maintain its collaboration with AES countries.

As AES counties have already applied for six month extension to formalize their membership processes, ECOWAS has also granted AES six month grace period until July 2025 to reconsider their decision to leave.

The ECOWAS Commissioner for peace and security urging them to explore the possibility of re-joining as a bloc, diplomatic engagement between AES and ECOWAs are also ongoing to facilitate cooperation and potential re-integration, he announced.

“You may recall that Ghana’s foreign policy has been guided by Pan Africanism, good neighborliness, non-alignment and multilateralism. These values continue to shape the countries approach as to work to restore trust, foster reconciliation and promote a common vision for regional development and stability.

Ghana’s role as a bridge in regional unity, we remain fully committed to peace security and economic prosperity in West Africa”, Mr Okudzeto said.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Former Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, Abena Osei-Asare has downplayed President John Dramani Mahama’s maiden Budget Statement and Fiscal Policy stating that it is riddled with credibility issues.

According to her in terms of revenue for this year 2025, the real growth and total revenue and grant as on page 132 of the budget and 134 is just 0.2 percentage point.

Addressing the media on Thursday, March 13, 2025, she indicated that they left it at15.9 percent tax to GDP and an economy that they claim to be resetting is only growing revenue by 0.2 percent; that is 16.1 percent of GDP at the end of last year.

The revenue numbers were 182 billion Ghana cedis and they want to grow it to 224 billion Ghana cedis in 2025, the growth in real terms is not encouraging, she said.

“If you listen to the Minister of Finance Dr. Ato Forson in paragraph 173 they are projecting a tax revenue of 17. 2 percent as two different figures are being thrown here.
The real details are in the budget appendix and there is a problem with the credibility of the 2025 budget.”

“We have laid a solid foundation for this government to operate and its very disingenuous for them to create the impression that we left them with an economy full of problems”.

A few months ago, the IMF concluded its third programme, just a section of the staff report Ghana’s policy and support under the IMF programme has continued to deliver encouraging results. Following the financial pressure in 2022 the fund supported project has provided a credible anchor for the government to adjust microeconomic policy and launch comprehensive reforms to restore Macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, she noted.

“While laying the foundation for higher and more inclusive growth, these efforts are paying off with the growth recovery rapidly with inflation declining despite at a slow pace and the fiscal and external position further improving”, the IMF documents noted.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Minister of Finance Cassiel Ato Forson has assured that despite the troubling state of the Ghanaian Economy, they are poised to fix it and return the country to the path of sustainable growth.

“Mr. Speaker, it is what it is. The state of our economy is troubling, but we will fix it! It will require some

sacrifices, truthfulness, transparency and discipline. We will take strong measures to confront the situation head-on.

Presenting the 2025 Budget and Fiscal Policy of Government in parliament, he noted that the sacrifice of achieving this must come from all stakeholders, beginning with the government, adding that it is the reason the president, appreciating this significantly downsized  his government from “the elephant 88 to 60 ministers as well as government ministries from 30 to 23.

“our vision is to build a prosperous and a democratic state anchored on the principles of freedom and justice, providing equal opportunities for all. Through this vision, we will work together to build the Ghana we all want”.

The Finance Minister, thus announced that the resetting agenda will be anchored on three pillars:

i- restoring hope in our democracy, renewing

trust in public officials, and helping every

Ghanaian attain their full potential;

ii- offering a trusted hand to the vulnerable,

particularly women and youth and creating a

new Ghana for coming generations; and

iii- stimulating demand by patronising made-in-

Ghana goods under the 24-hour Economy

Policy.

Ghanamps.com

Techiman South Member of Parliament Martin Adjei-Menah Korsah has petitioned Parliament over security concerns involving President Mahama’s use of a private aircraft and his brother driving him on official duty that could compromise the president’s security and safety.

In his petition, Korsah highlighted two key incidents that he argued demonstrate a disregard for established security protocols surrounding the President’s movements.

The MP’s petition points out that President Mahama has, on multiple occasions, opted to travel using a private aircraft owned by his brother, Ibrahim Mahama, rather than the state-owned presidential jet that is specifically maintained and reserved for his use.

He argued that this decision raises serious security and safety concerns, as the private aircraft may not have undergone the same rigorous safety assessments, security clearances, and operational checks that the state aircraft routinely undergoes.

“The President has on record, undertaken foreign travels using his brother’s private aircraft at a time when the state-owned aircraft was available. The safety condition of the private aircraft could not be vouched for by state security agencies,” the petition states.

Korsah further insisted that allowing the President to rely on a privately owned jet without official authorization poses a significant national security risk and sets a dangerous precedent for future administrations.

The petition also raised alarms over a more recent event that took place last Thursday, March 6, 2025, during President Mahama’s visit to the Volta Region to commiserate with victims of a sea erosion disaster.

During the visit, the President was seen being driven by his brother, Ibrahim Mahama, instead of his officially assigned state driver.

Ghanamps.com