It is not late for Parliament and government to dialogue over budget cut – NPP’s Padmore

National Communication Team Member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Padmore Baffuor Agyapong says it is understandable for the Speaker not to entertain any budget cuts for parliament and the judiciary.

He also believes there is nothing wrong with the government’s decision to cut down the budget proposal of parliament if it feels it is too high.

On his accord, these budget cuts are expected as the government is trying to share the already scarce national cake evenly across board.

“The speaker will understand the budget cut but his only problem is with the Executive taking the decision without consulting parliament, as prescribed by the law. I am sure if this recommendation is dialogued upon, Speaker Bagbin will have no problem”, Padmore said.

In a panel discussion on the Epa Hoa Daben political talk show, the party communicator believes Speaker Bagbin assumed the Executive had reached a final decision because of the tone of its communication to parliament. “But I believe otherwise”.

“It is not late for them to dialogue. We have economists and other financial experts in parliament who understand budget cuts and it will be easy for this issue to be resolved amicably in a single meeting”, he stated.

Explaining the reasoning behind the budget cuts, Padmore defended, “we need to build institutions and we have to do so wholesomely and not focus on funding just a few institutions. Government also needs to settle debts, including making payments to contractors, hence the budget cuts”.

Alban Sumana Bagbin during the presentation of the 2021 budget statement last Friday directed the Interim Finance Minister Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and the Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who was present to convey the message to the President that any slash in the budget estimates for the legislature and judiciary will not be entertained.

This comes after President Akufo-Addo through his Executive Secretary Nana Asante Bediatuo announced to the speaker a ¢77 million slash in the estimate presented by the Judiciary and Judicial Service and over ¢119 million from the estimate of the Legislature.

The presidency cited current economic challenges for the decision.