Stop starving us of funds; if you want parliament to run aground, let us know – Bagbin to Ofori-Atta

Speaker Alban Bagbin has said the ministry of finance is starving parliament of the needed funds to run the legislature.

Mr Bagbin announced on the floor of the house on Thursday, 26 May 2022 that he is unable to approve financial commitments of the house because there is no money to fund them.

“It is not because I like declining your requests. It is because we don’t have the wherewithal to fund those operations”, he explained.

“The Ministry of Finance should not treat Parliament like a ministry or NGO,” he warned.

“This is an arm of government”, Mr Bagbin pointed out, saying: “We are not part of the MMDAs”.

According to him, “We have even been written to, to reduce our budget; in some cases, by 50 per cent”.

“If they want Parliament to run aground, they should let us know”, he fumed.

“The Speaker is not ready and prepared to be blamed for the inability to get Parliament going on just because we are not getting the necessary funding.”