We are ready to buy into NDC’s proposals for the budget – Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
Even though there have been some heated debate and some dramatic sessions in Parliament regarding the 2022 budget, the government has come out to explain that, they will not mind reviewing portions of the 2022 budget statement the Minority caucus in Parliament has identified as problems.
They further indicated their preparedness to still engage all stakeholders to resolve the concerns raised regarding the budget.
The Information Minister who is also legislator for Ofoase-Ayirebi reiterated this saying “If you look at what the Finance Minister said, in winding up on the original budget debate on the floor, it’s quite clear that, government is minded to accommodate, listen and to deal with whatever concerns that are being raised by the Ghanaian society”,
Mr. Nkrumah’s comment is coming on the back of the constant complaints from the Minority caucus that the five recommendations they raised for review in the 2022 budget had not been resolved hence their continued disapproval and reluctance to engage in handling issues regarding the budget.
But Mr. Oppong Nkrumah in his response indicated though the Minority caucus keeps raising concerns about the budget they the Majority are still open to negotiations for reviews where necessary.
“We are saying that, while we cannot allow for the unconstitutionality to stand, we are committed to engage and to deal with the issues. Let us engage and address the issues in substance. While we engage in substance, we are looking forward to as political leaders address the issues”, he stressed.
According to the Minister, the government is willing to provide budgetary allocations for the Keta Sea Defence Project and also reconstruct the wording of the Aker energy agreement as proposed by the Minority caucus.
He also indicated that, though the Minority’s concerns are genuine their rush to reject the budget was out of place.
“So if you keep insisting that we should throw away the policy document because Agyapa is mentioned in it, we are not doing ourselves much of a service, we don’t have to throw away policies if we can make [amendments].
“To all intents and purposes, that policy document is of very little binding effect on anything. It is not a contract or transaction and it doesn’t put money anywhere. It is not a reason for the policy to be rejected. I think the only path of departure is the method and to say that the policy document should be thrown out till these matters are dealt with when they can be done at the remaining steps of the budget implementation levels, yet they have difficulty with that”, he suggested.
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
