Stop lying and get back to work – Minority replies Bawumia

Minority Caucus in Parliament has sounded caution to Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to “stop the lies and get back to work in order to redeem the mountain of promises made to Ghanaians during the 2016 electioneering campaign”.

According to the Minority Caucus, Dr Bawumia must wake up from his campaign mood and face reality since he and his government has a huge task ahead of them to reduce taxes, eradicate youth employment and all the ‘big-big promises’ they made to Ghanaians.

The minority sounded this caution at a press briefing yesterday in Parliament to react to an allegation by the Vice President Dr Bawumia that the erstwhile government failed to account for GHC 7 billion they spent while in office.

The group expressed its displeasure at the Vice President’s allegations, describing it as most unfortunate and a palpable force.

The briefing was addressed by the Former Deputy Finance Minister and a Member of Parliament (MP) for Ajumako Enyan Essiam Consistency in the Central Region, Hon. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson.

“We are displeased by the tendency of the Vice President to rush with information to the public and the media particularly the structural measures and reforms without taking time to understand the rational for the reforms and initiatives.” said Hon. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson.

He explained that, the Ghc 7 billion, in question, was a major initiative or reform on government contracts and expenditure, which is part of the GIFMIS project that the new administration is expected to continue implementing.

The framework he noted was covered in the new Public Financial Management (PFM) Act, under the Budget Responsibility provisions.

The former Deputy Finance Minister insisted that the fund was used as part of the contract database and outstanding commitment, and does not constitute conventional definition of arrears.

The government is obliged to incorporate the commitments, as a first charge on the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDA’s) budget 2017.

He further explained that in the past, government arrears have been defined as only three-to-six months of outstanding certificates submitted to the Ministry of Finance for work done by contractors. Despite the fact that the infrastructure development projects of the ministries may have been ongoing that will extend beyond the three-to-six months or even a fiscal year.

Hence, the ministry of Finance under the previous administration decided to create a Contract Data base for all MDA’s to highlight the following: the total contract sum & variations, amount of contract certified, and amount paid to date, as well as the outstanding claim (divided between the conventional three-to-six months and known pipeline).

The Contract Data base system ensure that MDA’s do not award new contracts while they have commitments that are outstanding. He added.

Dr. Bawumia, on Tuesday announced to whole world that an amount of GHC 7 Billion spent by the John Mahama led government, had not been accounted for.

He made the disclosure at the launch of the Ghana Corporate Governance Initiative in Accra when speaking on the topic: ‘The Role of Integrity and Transparency in Accelerating Ghana’s Development’.

Per Dr. Bawumia account the Nana Akuffu Addo led government discovered the unaccounted Ghc7 billion while interrogating data on the previous government’s expenditure.