The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has entreated both the Majority and Minority in Parliament to work together to attain a feasible budget programme that will propel the Ghanaian economy onto the path of recovery.
Referring to the upcoming budget reading in Parliament on Thursday, the Minister, in a twitter post, hinted that the Budget will focus on prudent economic policies that will help reboot the economy, hence the collaboration of both sides of the House.
He further said it will focus on restoring macroeconomic stability, arresting the escalating cost of living, achieving moderate growth, and completing ongoing government projects across the country.
The Minister indicated that the budget statement is a prerequisite for securing an IMF deal, and therefore must be carefully crafted to get the buy-in of all segments of society.
“The 2023 budget is supposed to be the foundation of our recovery. Majority and Minority will have to work together in the national interest to arrive at a feasible budget programme,” he tweeted.
No boycott
Meanwhile, the MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, has asked his colleagues from the Majority side not to boycott the budget reading.
He noted that instead of the decision to not show up in the House, “the patriotic, urgent, compassionate and proper thing to do is first to help the government pass its budget and then later confront and address, if we must, the issue of who is fit or not fit to lead the Ministry of Finance.”
Mr Agyapong, in a statement, pointed out that “the leadership of the Majority Group later issued a statement agreeing to the President’s request. Therefore, the insistence by some MPs that they will not attend Thursday’s proceedings means no more than an attempt to blackmail or unduly force the hands of the President and or undermine his authority and agenda for Ghanaians. That cannot be right. The President is our leader and deserves the full benefit of the doubt if any.”
“In any case, we have all been elected as Members of Parliament to serve the best interests of the people of our individual and collective constituencies. Given the crippling economic crisis facing the people of Ghana and their businesses, it is the highest level of insensitivity towards the plight of our nation and her people for any elected representative or group of elected representatives to use their public offices to attempt to hold hostage efforts to address the economic problems facing all of us,” he added.
The Assin Central MP acknowledged the current global economic challenge, saying the citizenry expects their elected representatives to show up for work and help them survive the worsening global economic turmoil.
“It is not the time to play political games or feed egos. I firmly believe that if there is ever any time that Ghanaians expect us to do our duty to Ghana unconditionally, it is now. We must not and cannot sacrifice that responsibility to our people on the side issue of who presents the 2023 Budget to Parliament,” he said.
“Let us show leadership and demonstrate solidarity with the struggling masses of our people by turning out in our numbers to support the President’s proposed plan to put Ghana back on the path of economic recovery and triumph,” Mr Agyapong added.
The Assin Central legislator further noted that every NPP MP has to preserve and ensure that the agenda of the Akufo-Addo government for Ghana succeeds, otherwise the people of Ghana would have no reason to return the party to power in 2024.
