The Drought in the North: Finance ministry requests GH¢500m from Contingency Fund

The Ministry of Finance has requested the approval of GH¢500 million from the Contingency Fund to deal with the ongoing drought in the northern parts of the country.

The Minister for Finance, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, indicated that the request has become necessary to help raise the over GH¢8 billion the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has asked for to tackle the dry spell in the north and its consequences, including food shortages and loss of farmers' income.

The minister added that government cannot rely on the 2024 budget to raise the over GH¢8 billion for the National Emergency Response Programme to address the looming food security crisis in the country.

“Mr. Chairman, considering that we are eight (8) months into the implementation of the 2024 Budget and the proposed interventions are unplanned expenditure occasioned by a "force majeure", Government cannot fund the request of GH¢8.36 billion solely from a reallocation of existing budget lines in the 2024 Budget.

“In light of the foregoing, we write to request approval from the Finance Committee for the withdrawal of GH¢500 million from the Contingency Fund, in accordance with Article 177 subsection 1 of the 1992 Constitution, Section 36 subsection 1 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921) as well as Section 227 subsection 1 of the Standing Orders of Parliament of Ghana,” part of the letter which is dated August 28, 2024, reads.

The minister added, “To complement this withdrawal, government is mobilising support from Development Partners as well as realigning approved fiscal operations in the 2024 Budget. Mr. Chairman, given the assessed impact of the impending food security crisis in five (5) Northern Regions and three (3) Transitional Zones affecting over 900,000 farmers and heightening the risk of extremism, your urgent approval would enable Government to implement the critical measures required to address the situation.”

Read the full letter below:

BAI/ADG

Meanwhile, catch up on GhanaWeb's interview with Dr. Nana Ato Arthur, Head of the Local Government Service, as he explains the procedures involved in undertaking projects that are originally government projects. He spoke with Etsey Atisu on The Lowdown:





Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.