Hawa Koomson budget saga: Government’s defence not digestible – Kofi Bentil

Vice President of Imani Ghana, Kofi Bentil, says government’s defence on the heavily criticized GHC1 billion budget estimate for the Ministry of Special Development Initiative may cast a bad shadow on the integrity of the government.

“Sometimes the excuse itself leads to a worst conclusion… I think they’re in a hole; they must stop digging and they must just come out clean to say look they are going to go back and do this thing again, come back with something that is digestible, this one is not,” Kofi Bentil told sit-in-host Nana Aba Anamoah on Morning Star on Starr 103.5 FM Thursday.

Government has downplayed the criticism that has attended the details of the controversial budget being made public.

Government on Wednesday in a statement said out of the over GH¢1 billion that is at issue, only GH¢1.5 million is available to the Ministry directly.

It added that the rest of the amount is only an appropriated ceiling made available in the 2018 Budget for the three Development Authorities to validate, properly budget with, plan and execute their on-ground projects, once established.

But Mr. Kofi Bentil said the government must be mindful of the excessive damage control on the matter and rather come clean so as not to upset Ghanaians.

He adds:” For me honestly, the budget itself is not at the peak of problem as the process that led to that budget. Are they saying the whole system could not catch such glaring, terrible errors including arithmetic error?