Minority boycotts 2018 budget approval

The Minority in Parliament abstained from the vote on the approval of the 2018 budget and financial statement.

The debate on next year’s fiscal policy was finally brought to an end on Tuesday, December 5 as the Majority and Minority leaders summed the contributions of their sides.

The Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu who started the debate questioned why some policies and programmes which hitherto were under specific Ministries, had been placed under the Office of the President.

He described the action as ample evidence of the President’s lack of faith in his Ministers properly executing his vision. Mr Iddrisu also served notice of the Minority’s decision to resist the allocation of funds to what he describes as illegal creations.

On his part, Majority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu extolled the positives in the Budget saying it sets the tone for job creation and will transform the country.

With the concluding debate done, the Speaker put the question for the approval of the motion which saw an overwhelming endorsement from the Majority as compared to the loud silence from the opposition MPs.

Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak told Class News that parliament did not revise the Budget “and now we have it there as revised and we (minority) called for it to be withdrawn but it was not done. Obviously, they (majority) have the numbers so we (minority) left it for them (majority)”.

He explained the minority wanted their displeasure to be captured in the records of parliament hence the vote boycott.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta says 2018 will be a year of revenue mobilization.

According to him, this will spur the government on to create more job opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth as well as boost its infrastructure drive.