Don’t replace MPs Common Fund with one-constituency, one-million-dollar policy – Muntaka

The Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mohammed has cautioned the government against substituting the MPs Common Fund with its one-constituency-one-million-dollar policy.

In any case, the policy should rather be an addition to the Common Fund given to Members of Parliament to develop their respective constituencies, he argued. The MP for Asawase therefore wants the budget expected to be presented by the Finance Minister tomorrow to spell out clearly what the policy entails.

According to him, any attempt to scrap the Common Fund will not be accepted by the Minority because it is a statutory fund.

The Member of Parliament for Asawase was contributing to a motion on the floor debating the State of the Nation Address presented to the House on the 21st of February 2017 by President Nana Akufo-Addo.

He said the Minority would not relent on its quest to keep the government on its toes to fulfill all the campaign promises.

Referring to these promises he called “the Gospel according to President Nana Addo and Vice President Bawumia, from verse one to thirty two”, the MP mentioned: “Free SHS; One dam for all Villages in the North; pay teacher training allowance, free maternal care, radically reduce water bill, radically reduce light bill, one district one factory, pay all DKM customers, reduce corporate tax 20%, create the Western North Region, Provide Job for all Graduates, abolish all taxes on food items, charge a flat rate of 3.5% from MNEs instead of 17.5% VAT, Pay One Million to all 275 Constituencies, One extension officer per 500 Paddle.

“Removing import duties on raw materials and machinery for production, Abolishing special import levy, Abolishing 17.5% VAT on imported medicine not produce in the country, abolishing 17.5% VAT on fishing services, Abolishing the 5% VAT on real estate sales, abolishing 17.5% VAT on domestic airline ticket, unemployed youth to get jobs, empower small scale business in the big market.

“To sponsor the Ghana Premier league with capital injection of one million dollars each season, to remove Airport Taxes, to remove utility bills paid by university students living on campus, to increase and give Ghanaians high quality infrastructure nationwide, loans from Western World will be abolished, Woyome will pay back our money, continuation of Mahama projects and we will use our oil wealth income to clear all Ghana’s debt.”

The Minority MPs backed the Minority Chief Whip insisting that they will hold the “leg of the President by the fire” to ensure that all these promises are fulfilled.