News:
September 9, 2015
The Minority in Parliament is urging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to in the interim suspend further disbursement of its credit facility to Ghana, until further contractual agreement about the bailout programme receives parliamentary approval.
The caucus at a press conference Tuesday, addressed by its Ranking Member on Finance, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei and MP for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, called on the speaker to recall members to enable them consider the various agreements involving the bailout.
To them there are various contractual violations concerning the deal, especially, with regards to Article 181 (3) (4) and (6) of the Constitution which needs to be rectified by parliament.
“His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama has violated the Constitution as far as the IMF ECF loan is concerned. In this respect, we strongly demand that the President takes immediate corrective measures and call on the Speaker to cause Parliament to be recalled to approve of or otherwise of the IMF Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Loan.”
“We demand further that his exercise be undertaken no later than by the end of this month, September, 2015,” noted Dr. Akoto Osei.
According to the Ranking Member on Finance, should their demand fall on death ears, they would have no option than to use all avenues including going to court to ensure that the sanctity of the Constitution is protected.
Ghana is currently enjoying a three year IMF Extended Credit Facility worth SDR 664.2million, equivalent to about US$918million.
Since the approval on April 3, 2015, the Breton Woods Institution has released an amount of SDR 166.05million, equivalent to US$233.2 million.
GhanaMPs.gov.gh