Author: Kwaku GhanaMPs

Minority leader Dr Ato Forson has said the late Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur has been vindicated when he said a time will come for the current vice president to answer his own 170 questions; “the time is now”.

This follows Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as running mate setting one hundred and seventy questions to the then Vice President, Late Amissah Arthur to answer when the country was facing some economic challenges at the time.

“Alhaji Bawumia I besiege you in the name of Allah the most precious, please answer the one hundred and seventy questions. This insensitive, cruel and out of reach and bye bye budget would inflict more pains and hardship on the ordinary Ghanaian and businesses as if the suffocating taxes is not enough this government has introduced a number of tax handles”.

At a press conference immediately the finance minister finished with the presentation of the budget and the House adjourned, the Minority Leader addressing the media, noted that the vice president said to be arresting the Ghana cedis.

Dr Ato Forson mocked the Vice President who claimed at a point to have arrested the dollar and kept the key with the IGP. But the dollar has broken jail and is now on the run faster than Usain Bolt. “The late vice president was right when he said a time will come for the current vice president to answer his own 170 questions the time is now”.

“The vice president as head of the economic management team does not understanding what is going on in the economy; he is out of reach and does not understand what is happening and what the ordinary Ghanaian is going through.

And the NPP government has pushed the ordinary Ghanaian into extreme poverty and this is as a result of what the Catholic Bishops Conference has describe as the massive corruption under President Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr Bawumia”, the Minority Leader stated.

According to him, the NPP promised to move the economy from taxation to production but rather we see a reverse gear over taxation without production.

And today the finance minister has taxed our brothers and sisters from Abossey Okai, Kokompe and Suame Magazine and mechanic shops across the country are at their backs. Unfortunately he failed to announce policies that would reduce the suffering of the ordinary Ghanaian.

And the way they have introduced taxes, they have it in the budget if you are not careful you would not see it; they have introduced taxes worth eleven billion Ghana cedis. They are re introducing an environmental duty exercise to cover plastic product and packaging.

Again industrial emission tax, called emission levy and increase the stamp duty.

The legacy of the vice president and the finance minister is there for us to see; a bankrupt economy. All the finance minister knows to do is to over borrow to benefit his businesses and his friends. He would be remembered for destroying Ghanaian businesses that has to do with his rivals.

“He has brought our economy on its knees, he has forced pensioners to their early graves, he gave crude and painful haircuts, and pushed eighty-five percent of Ghanaians into extreme poverty within two years. This government cannot be trusted, the NPP has messed up Ghanaians big time, we need to know this, we the previous government gave them a number of inheritance, they had three active oil producing fields and they inherited energy sector levies.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Minority Leader Dr. Atto Forson said the 2024 budget presented by the Finance Minister on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 is the last goodbye budget of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) present by the sector Minister, Ken Ofori Atta to Ghanaians.

According to him the budget is insensitive and out of touch saying “Mr. Minister, you and members of the economic management team led by the Vice President, you are leaving behind a bankrupt economy; this government is leaving behind a default economy, in other words we would not pay economy.”

“Mr. Speaker this government is leaving behind a budget that is debt riddled and over tax, hyperinflation, and high monetary rate. As if that is not enough, you are leaving a high lending rate economy, high unemployment rate”.

He further added that the government is leaving behind a miserable index that has never been witnessed in this country. “According to the Catholic Bishop Conference, you are leaving behind an economy that has witnessed massive corruption”, he stated

The Minority Leader also noted that the legacy they are leaving behind is “today you are here reading the budget alone, “where is the Vice President and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana?” Let me say they cannot abandon you, you did it with them, and they are also faces of destruction. Bye bye this is your score card”, he said.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu Ekuful said if her Ministry gets the needed funds from the 2024 budget by the end of January 2024, by the end of July 2024 rural telephone would be completed.
With that, the current government can then be held accountable by tracking implementation of the budget.

According to her she is hearing some noises being made about no network, not vote, “so I am saying that give us the money by January ending, June and July2024 we would give you the network and you also give us the votes to break the eight”.

Another thing is the rural telephony project as we all know because of the external debt restructuring China Exim which was funding our rural telephony project has suspended disbursement but we do need to complete that project and government has taken it upon itself for us to complete it. This would enable some four million Ghanaians to be connected around the country. You cannot take part in the digital revolution when you do not have connectivity; it’s basic.

Again, am also happy that the digital village I spoke about just yesterday has found space in the budget; we are going to find funding to build this facilities at the university of Ghana to enable our young people get practical hands on training in ICT and cutting on technology so that they can have innovation for the contemporary challenges that we face.

So for that digital infrastructure to be put in place for the underserve and not served areas to be connected is a relief for me so that once I get the funds released to the contractors June next year all the site that we plan next year, all the plans we want to activate next year would be up and running.

Also girls in ICT found space in the budget and I am happy about it because we need to narrow the gender digital divide.

Addressing the media just after the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta presented the budget; she noted that for her one key thing is the removal of taxes on sanitary pad something we have been pushing for a long time.

“I am happy that something that this government inherited its taking steps to remove it to bring relief to our young adolescent people”.

I know there was some tax relief expectation we need to recognise that if you do not borrow and do not pay your taxes to finance your own development, your development would stall. It is incumbent on us to contribute to the development of our country through paying these taxes and hold the government accountable by letting it know we have done our part. And it is your turn to deliver the projects you promise in your budget that you would undertake if you have the funding you indicated.”

She said it is not enough to make noise and shout; let us take concrete projects and ask the needed questions. You said you would do this, the funds have been given, where are you with it so that when we go to the polls you promise A have you delivered and as the media you can pin point them.”

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Member of Parliament for Dormaa East Paul Twum Barimah is confident the 2024 budget will be a stability and development budget based on signals he picked from a member of the Majority side and believes something good would come from the Finance Minister.

According to him there would be cutdown on so many sectors and taxes would be taken off some items like agriculture inputs.

And the issue of climate change would be given attention in the budget particularly vehicles that generate emissions would be taxed and congestion as well.

In an interview he further pointed out that politicizing issues about the economy from both majority political parties, the NDC and NPP that have been at the helm of affairs of the Country is not helping; cited the E-Levy as a typical example.

“When we move away from the politics we would get things right we should start it now, when we consider that we are Ghanaians and act fairly. And when we act we do it in our interest, we would achieve results; and when we talk of corruption ninety percent it’s the civil servants”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Ahead of the presentation of the 2024 budget statement, Member of Parliament for Tamale South Haruna Iddrisu said the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta does not have any option than to embark on a difficult mission of expenditure cut.

According to him there would be no growth acceleration or growth being fast trucked, rather a huge expenditure cut as government would try to make debt sustainable.

Again, the biggest news from the finance minister would have been he telling Ghanaians he had reached an agreement with external creditors in other that he would be able to save some ten point five billion dollars out of the twenty nine billion US dollars external debt that will give him some fiscal space; “he is likely to say I am near conclusion with external creditors.”

And to bring a closure to the matter China and the Paris Club’s issues need to be addressed as the IMF sees that as a requirement we need the six hundred million dollars badly before the end of November other than that the cedi would crash; “but he would not be able to say he has achieved agreement with creditors.”

Again there is the need for fiscal discipline and we have to work toward fiscal consolidation and Ghanaians should look for answers as to how to deal with the depreciation of the cedi. We need to work to export and work to preserve foreign exchange in the country, he added.

“We need to arrest the depreciation of the cedi if not the Ghanaian economy would not see any growth; there would be lack of fiscal space.”

Touching on the Central Bank, he opined that there has been a breach of the Act; saying ”many of you did not appreciate it, today you are making it a major issue; when it came to printing of money, we have to find ways to deal with it, how do we work to save the economy, he stated.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram has described the expected budget of 2024 to be presented by the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 as International Monetary Fund austerity budget.

According to him the finance minister is only coming to read what the IMF has written for him as he has no control over the budget hence there is not substance in the budget.

“We should expect that they would tell government to cut down on expenditure; government would have to cut down on road, hospitals that we need; do not expect the government to cut down on their travel expenditure”.

He further pointed out that government will cut down what benefits the public; they would not cut down on what benefits the president and his appointees.

So we should not expect them to function properly, stating that in 2022 a whole Ministry of Information goods and services got less than a million cedis out of ten million that was approved by parliament for them; it’s a budget of austerity, he emphasised.

“This one it is not only nurses who are suffering, doctors are also suffering students, nursing trainees free SHS is suffering, everything that this government has promised is suffering, even the second lady’s hand bag is suffering”, he mocked.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com