According to him, the Mahama-led NDC government should divulge their expenditure in order to demystify the minds of Ghanaians about the way government has been utilizing their funds. He therefore called on President John Mahama and his government to render a detailed account of the monies they have expended since the inception of the fourth NDC government.
The opposition New Patriotic Party last week revealed what they consider as the “True State of the Nation” to show Ghanaians the actions and inactions of the Mahama-led administration following their walkout of the President’s sessional address before Parliament last Thursday, February 21.
The party disclosed that the office of President John Dramani Mahama in the 2012 fiscal year spent in excess of GHC 600 million (6 trillion cedis) above its approved budget. This was on the blind side of Parliament, the minority caucus in Parliament revealed on Thursday, February 28, 2013.
The minority further revealed that the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) also in excess of its budget spent over GHC 700 million on Social Protection Programs without any Parliamentary approval while the Ministry of Youth and Sports blew over 300 million cedis above its budgetary demands.
A new Statesman publication on March 4, 2013 also revealed that an exorbitant amount of 500 million cedis was spent by the Mahama administration within November/December 2012. These are monies which were used by President John Mahama for campaign ahead the 2012 Parliamentary and Presidential elections.
In view of this, Nana Fredua speaking on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” programme decried the extravagance in government’s spending and so, believes these monies could have been channeled into streamlining the deprived sectors of the economy.
“What at all are they using our funds to do? What are they wasting our time for? What work are they doing that these funds should dissipate...We should ask where the money is. We should ask so that they tell us the truth,” he said.
He explained the essence of the NPP MPs’ decision to be present during the budget presentation by the Finance Minister, Seth Tekper, this Tuesday, saying that the minority’s presence is very crucial so far as the budget of the nation is concerned.
He therefore outlined his expectations saying the budget should address the crippling challenges of the nation. To him, the budget presentation should cover all sectors of the economy; particularly the education and health sectors which he indicated have faced several problems.
He also expects the Finance Minister to allocate a substantial quota to retooling the creative arts industry because the works by the creative artists in the country reap lots of benefits for the country.
He added that the government should roll out measures to deal with unemployment, youth and environmental issues in the country.
He however called on Ghanaians to hold the government accountable so as to check its activities and ensure that it does not delude the citizenry.
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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