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The Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of parliament and Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has lashed out at the government for not making any budgetary allocation for the second phase of the Blekusu Coastal Protection project.

According to him, he is stunned that a tidal wave disaster of this magnitude that displaced about four thousand people has not found any expression in the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy.

Contributing to the debate on the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy on November 23, 21, he said he was disappointed at the 2022 budget statement, and “that disappointment Mr. Speaker emanates from the rather insensitive, the rather cruel, the rather unpardonable omission of the tidal waves humanitarian crisis that hit this country.

The current policy of the president is that anytime disasters of this nature have happened in other jurisdiction, he is among the first world leaders to comment, to empathize, to condemn. In Sierra Leon when a similar disaster happened, they did not only issue a statement, the Vice President led a delegation to sierra Leon to commiserate with them and to make donations. Here in Ghana, on the 6th of November, weeks before the budget was presented the president until now has refused to say a word, not a statement of empathy, not a statement of sympathy”, he added.

According to him, after going through the entire budget, and the pages that deal with Works and Housing, “all the appendices, including those that have priority areas from now to 2024, “not a mention of the Blekusu Coastal Protection project is mentioned, is not, not in the medium term; and wondered how Ghana would be seen in the comity of nations.

Per this development, he noted, leadership would be seen as a leadership that does not care, that does not owe the people a duty of care and responsibility. “And Mr. Speaker, we are speaking of a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions” and for it to be ignored is rather unfortunate.

He debunked the assertion by some of his colleagues from the Majority side who argued that the omission was because the budget was completed somewhere in September hence the tidal wave disaster in November couldn’t have found expression in the budget.  Citing an event as recent as 25th October, 2021, in which the President attended and launch a programme under the auspices of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources which finds space in the budget, he said it can’t be true that the budget was completed before the event of the tidal waves disaster.

He described the government’s inaction as gross dereliction of duty, said the situation in the tidal wave affected areas is very dire, and it is sad government has not prioritized it.

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The debate on the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy continues with mostly members of the Minority side in the House opposing to it and describing it as a killer budget; pointing out that there are introduction of taxes that would burden Ghanaians and impoverish them further.

But Deputy Minister for Finance, Dr. John Kumah said the Nana Akufo-Addo led government is setting aside ten billion Ghana cedis for the next three years in the 2022 budget to address issue of training and capacity building for young people and would help them through creativity and innovation to create their business.

According to him existing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can apply for funds to scale up their businesses as well as the ‘YouStart’ programme which is going to be implemented, as government is not going to introduce any new structure but going to implement it through the old structures.

In a zoom meeting organised by the Finance Ministry, he pointed out that, “We are going to create an endowment fund for students to be able to apply whiles in school and get a working capital; these are good interventions. The E-Levy would make this possible for government to address a number of concerns in our country”, he said in his open remarks.

On the issue of debt sustainability, he explained that government is doing all to address the problems of debt sustainability which people have problem with. “If you check the 2022 budget Ghana is looking forward for a positive primary balance.”

“We are also reducing our Euro bond borrowing amount in 2021, we did three billion dollars, we are reducing it to seven hundred and fifty million dollars that should tell you gradually we want to reduce the level of browning”.

He further explained that all these would be possible if the measures government is putting in the budget to get revenue are implemented; and these would need to be communicated to Ghanaians.

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Member of Parliament for Abetifi, Bryan Acheampong said his advice to the National security Minister, Kan Dapaah is to keep some information with respect to President’s travels secret.

He further explained that, President Nana Akuffo-Addo is in hurry which usually makes him travel a lot and anytime he travels, he return with goodies which includes money, COVID-19 vaccines and others, so therefore his traveling has really yielded Ghana a lot of good.

He again explained that, in his capacity as MP and someone with security knowledge, he would advise the sector Minister to keep some information from the public and the world at large in order to keep our President safe at all times.

He argued that such information are vital and cannot be played with for political benefit when he granted interview to some sections of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) after debating the 2022 budget on the floor of the House on Tuesday, November 23, 2021.

“Do you know what it costs to protect Ghanaians, the sovereignty of the state putting the military at our borders?” And the president, you cannot say these are hard times therefore the president should take ‘trotro’.

“If anybody in the security set up would listen, they should re-classify if they have not done so already. These information are top secrets, which means you and I cannot have access to it and at a certain time we can declassify it. But for now so that it is not a matter that anybody can play and toy with when we continue to do that people actually continue to believe in it. I am worried and the people propagating it are people who should know better”.

The security of the state is another matter that is why in other jurisdictions, before you serve on the intelligence committee beyond your oath of secrecy and oath to the state, security checks is done so that you can have access to some information and keep them.

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With the Ghanaian economy facing chronic difficulty of not being able to bridge the gap between revenue and expenditure, Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Kwaku Kwarteng, referenced a statement former President Mahama made in 2013 when he came to Parliament and told Members that, “The meat was now down to the bone”, a statement he noted, would be the opposite when the 2022 Budget was approved.

The 2022 Budget, he added, has outlined some measures to deal with the rising expenditure rate against revenue mobilization.

For example, he said Government has in the budget, initiated a measure which seeks to move the country away from sole sourcing to more competitive tendering contracts as well as improving efficiency of public sector project financing by tackling the value for money regime of government projects in accordance with the law.

“This is an expenditure control intervention that we support”, he added.

That notwithstanding, the Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament said Government again was seeking to apply GIFMIX to cut down unauthorized commitments as well as cut back on the exemptions they give in order to mobilize more revenue to meet its expenditure.

In concluding, he urged Parliament as a House to also lead by example and move away from sole sourcing contracts it has been awarding over the years.

“I wish the leadership of Parliament can cut cost as Ghana seeks to bridge the gap between our revenues and expenditures. Parliament should not just oversight the Executive, we must lead by example”.

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Minister for Information, Oppong Nkrumah making a case for the need to approve the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy on Tuesday, November 23, 2021 during the budget debate said the budget has a policy aimed at ensuring proper collection of property tax.

The Minister who queried his colleagues as to how many of them pay their property tax also noted that his colleagues would be surprised to know that across the country property rate are not being properly collected, hence the economic policy of the government before the House to outline a lot of measures for Central government as same property tax develop the country.

“If we know that this is the problem and a solution has been put before us, what we need to do is to support the economic policy before us so that we can mobilize property rates, not an increase in the rate, not a new tax on the property rate”.

And further argued that the current administration has proposed more efficient and equitable way of mobilizing revenue that is the E-Levy, stating that the system is working elsewhere and it takes taxes for them to see those developments.

Again, the country’s tax to GDP is only 12 percent and we has said that the informal sector is not paying much, we need to raise more revenue in an equitable manner at the same time protect the poor.

“That is why we have ensured that the first hundred Ghana cedis which mean two thousand cedis a month is not taxed, subsequently those who can afford are taxed.  I want to call on all the MPs; these are economic policy prescription that we should all support. They are the answers to the question on our minds”.

On deficit, he recounted that it was in the chamber that they all agreed that never again should an administration without course and prior approval go beyond five percent deficit and in the first term of this administration they have demonstrated that.

“Because of COVID -19 pandemic, we went up to 11 percent; if you read this budget it is clear that we are bringing the debt down to 7.9 percent. We took it down to 6 and bring it to the fiscal responsibility of GDP, that is the clearest evidence that this administration is committed to reducing the debt burden on this country, that is a policy that I believe this House must support “.

Mr. Oppong Nkrumah further pointed out in his argument that,  the Minority cannot  be saying in one breath they want to see a reduction in the country’s debt burden yet when government  put before them  a policy proposal that  would reduce the debt from 11 percent to 7.9, “you say no,   I would not support it. How can that be, we should all support this economic proposal which says it want to reduce the deficit from 11 to 7 to 6 and to 5 eventually during the life time of this administration”.

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The Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Kwaku Agyeman  Kwarteng said  Ghana would  hit ground zero if the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government is not approved, warning that the consequences will not be palatable for the citizenry.

According to him, the choice of debating the motion for the approval of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government will either be to approve it for it to become the foundation upon which Parliament could consider the individual requests for revenue mobilization measures and resource allocations that government is seeking for or to reject the budget for government to start the process afresh.

A rejection of the 2022 Budget, he noted, will come with negative implications which will affect everybody in the country.

For instance, he said there will be chaos in the country since there will be no money to spend on government contracts and no money to pay government workers.

Furthermore, government will not be able to honour its international obligations.

“If we don’t approve the budget and by the 1st of January, 2022, there is no approved Appropriation, Public Sector workers cannot be paid, Government cannot honour its international obligations and we will throw this country into chaos. Let those saying we should reject the budget repent from what they are thinking about”. He made these remarks when he second the motion for the approval of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government which was moved in the House on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta.

Putting up a spirited argument for total support in approving the 2022 Budget, Mr. Kwarteng, who is a former deputy Minister of Finance said Ghana has suffered a lot because of the huge gap between its revenue mobilization and expenditures; stressing that now was the time to bridge that gap and the 2022 Budget “is seeking to do exactly that”.

The Obuasi West NPP lawmaker indicated that since 2006, the gap between the country’s revenue mobilization and expenditures continue to be widening, a development he attributed to lack of bold initiatives by successive governments to address the challenge.

For instance, he said in 2006, for every GH₵100.00 collected for both tax and non-tax revenue, GH₵15.00 is used to pay interest on the loans the country has contracted.

In 2007, the amount used in paying interest on the loans contracted by the country went up by, with the country recording GH₵12.00 for the payment of interest out of every GH₵100.00 revenue collected. In 2008, the story was not different as out of every GH₵100.00 revenue collected, GH₵14.00 is used to service interest on the loans contracted.

In 2012 getting to the close of the President Mills administration, out of every GH₵100.00 revenue mobilized, GH₵16.00 was used to pay interest on the loans the country had borrowed.

“By 2016, when the Mahama administration was leaving office, for every GH₵100.00 collected as revenue, we were now using GH₵33.00 to finance our interest. I am painting this picture to let us understand the problem this budget is seeking to deal with and to urge you all to approve it”, he noted.

He said as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which virtually shut down the global economy with Ghana not being left out, all the revenue projections the country made could not be materialized and had to borrow again to meet expenditure.

As a result of this, in 2020, for every GH₵100.00 revenue collected, GH₵45.00 was used to service interest on the loans the country had borrowed.

He said although the year has not ended, indications are that Ghana is likely to spend GH₵47.00 as payment of interest on every GH₵100.00 revenue collected.

The trend, he noted, cannot be allowed to continue since it is not sustainable.

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God knows why this 8^th Ghanaian Parliament of the fourth Republic is a hang one, which does not give any party their way to bully and bulldoze their way through, the Adaklu lawmaker, Governs Kwame Agbodza has stated.

According to him he has seen ten people in Parliament take a vote on a very important matter before not this particular Parliament, but if one goes through the 1992 Republican constitution, it says at least with one half present, so, “let us enforce that and see how it would work”.

In an interview, he pointed out that Parliament is there because people want a check on the Executive arm of government, and parliament is the arm that makes difference between democracies.

Additionally, it is sad that Ghanaians do not consider politics as a source for good, “they say all MPs do is just look after themselves, when it is about them they vote for, if it is about any other thing they do not care”.

“How can a blind person look at the 2022 budget and say how is it going to make my life better, same with the youth, teachers, and all the categories of people, I have mentioned that as their representative in every constituencies until we go home and say this is where you get your support from I do not think we are doing a good job”.

The Adaklu lawmaker pointed out that the 2022 budget should not be business as usual, they would have to take a vote on it, stating that it would not be whatever the Minority says should be ignored, “let us approve the budget, that would not happen”.

He emphasized the need for lawmakers to be able to exert their influence to get the country to do the right things. Again, he pointed out that one is not going to see the usual things where we witness, “yeah, yeah, for just that reason they would do proper scrutinizing”.

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Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Governs Kwame Agbodza is hopeful the two days post budget workshop being organised in Ho, the Volta Regional capital would equip MPs to better debate the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy.

According to him he is hopeful to learn a lot as he does not understand certain things in the budget and for the first time as Ranking on Roads and Transport, they are going to demand detailed expenditure of everything they had approved in the 2021 budget; how they were spent, before giving approval for a new spending in 2022.

“I do not understand how we spent six hundred million on veronica bucket and sanitizers during COVID; I still cannot get my head around it, the specific Committee that dealt with it should break it down for us to know”.

Again, he pointed out that they approve some amount of money for road work they have to find out how that money was used and why they should approve a new one as they want every Ghanaian to understand what they are doing.

“Ghanaians currently feel we just go and talk and they say, all those in favour we say yeah, yeah, and we go away, that is not good for our democracy”.

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Ranking member on Road and Transport, Governs Kwame Agbodza has given indications that  he would it take personal if the Roads and Highways Minister fails to respect the directives of the Rt. Hon Speaker Alban Sumana Bagbin to revert to collection of tolls, as the 2022 budget has not been approved yet.

According to him, he would scrutinize anything from the Roads and Highways Ministry that comes before the Committee as they are not going to have it easy.

In an interview, he pointed out that there is an agreement before the Committee for road to be constructed from Perduase to Koforidua, and until he gets back to the country from his trip abroad, “I would not support that move, so that he would learn that there should be mutual respect; if he cannot respect the Speaker, he cannot count on my respect”.

The Adaklu lawmaker further noted that the Roads Minister has breached the law by directing that road tolls should not be collected. Adding that despite it being in the budget of 2022, it has not been approved yet, and the arrogance of government would not let them back off.

“We are losing ten million Ghana cedis by the 31st of December 2021 for stopping the toll collection which has been budgeted into this year’s budget; but they are same government crying that they do not have enough money, but are ready to give ten million Ghana cedis for free”.

Again, he noted that the debate on the matter on the floor was clear that the Minister broke the law, and added that, as a lawyer and a senior member of the House, he has also signed a loan contract which has been inflated about thirty-nine percent.

On the directives issued by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, he also pointed out that he has no power to stop tricycles from using the motorway and further added that the Act which says local Assemblies can make bylaws, when they do, they should conform to the parent laws and their fees and charges should be added to what parliament approves.

“NPP would not be in power forever and the letter written by the sector Minister would not absorbed him from being charged of causing financial loss to the state with his directives to suspend collection of tolls, explain that when it came to the luxurious vehicle tax, and they wanted to remove it, they came to parliament to do that, only for the budget to be present for him to find a way of writing a letter within six hours of the budget to commit this illegality”.

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Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh said the Speaker, Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin erred in his directives to the Roads and Highways Minister, Kwasi Amoako Atta on suspension of collection of road tolls.

According to him the Speaker failed to convey the sense of the House and further told members of the Parliamentary Press Corps at a press briefing on Thursday, November 18, 2021 that anytime there is debate on the floor of the House.

“Speakers would ask, what is the sense of the House, why do they ask those questions very often, they are not rhetorical questions, it is based on practice and our standing orders, because the speaker cannot rule by his own authority?”.

And further noted that for the Speaker to say he was directing, he is not above parliament and he is not a member of parliament, “so his ruling should convey the position of the House; we think the Speaker erred in his ruling.”

In addition, he pointed out that the Speaker should maybe reconsider his ruling again and they are aware of the options that are available to them, if they want to challenge the ruling of the Speaker by coming on a motion, “but we want to put on record that the Speaker erred”.

He further added that they had picked up intelligence that people were amassing up to take action after the budget was presented and “you know Ghanaians, what has been happening in the country when the budget is presented and there is reaction from the public and identifiable groups and all that, so we think that the Minister acted in good faith”.

The indicated further that the first deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu in his contribution pointed out that Parliament is the maker of the laws, and the Executive is the enforcer; and stated that probably the speaker should have made a referral in this contest to the Roads and Transport committee, they would have engaged the sector minister further then things would have come up more for them to appreciate.

 “We think the Minister acted in good faith to avert a chaotic situation and that needs to be respected. The ruling by the Speaker I believe the Ghanaian people would act logically and reasonably in the face of what we said I think”.

It would be fair to ask, “what about the case of the law students where the Speaker directed? The distinction, he noted here is clear and if journalists recall the matter relating to the law students, there was a resolution by the House?’

So, the ruling of the Speaker in that context carried the resolution of the House it was not the speaker exercising excessive powers, “Speaker is a good friend, we would engage more but I think the Speaker erred”, he concluded.

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