Over GHC1.5b allocated to Akufo-Addo's office

The 2017 budgetary allocation of GHC1.56 billion for the Office of the President came up for debate in Parliament today with heated exchanges between the Minority and Majority sides of the House.

While the Minority decried the amount as excessive, the Majority defended the allocation as appropriate.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta, presenting the 2017 Budget Statement, last Thursday said the amount of GHC1.56 billion allocated to the Office of the President is to fund its operations as well as for and other capital expenditure, adding that, part of the money will also fund the operations of the six (6) new ministries created by the President.

But according to the Minority, considering the fact that the 'unprecedented' allocation was more than what had been allocated to 27 ministries, it was going to to be detrimental to other sectors of the economy and the socio-economic development of the country.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament during the debate on the President Nana Akufo-Addo's government, National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto who described the amount as "unprecedented allocation, an elephantine allocation, a gigantic allocation in excess of 1.5 billion cedis" stated that the amount which was more than the budgetary allocations to the office of government machinery from 2012-2015 of 1.3 billion cedis combined".

"Considering that the government intends to reduce payments to some statutory funds the amount which is more than double the highest allocation in the last decade was unacceptable and worrying", the former Deputy Minister of Education added.

However, in the opinion of  Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation and MP for Tafo Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, what should matter most is how the allocation is utilised. 

For him, the allocation was appropriate because there are a specific number of projects the Office of the President will be executing through the ministers of state.

"I wouldn't mind where he was going but he is telling half the truth. Mr Speaker, he is aware that there are several new ministries under the office of government machinery so if he wants Ghanaians to know the truth he should add that fact. I want remind him that his government under the office of government machinery just in one year overspent their budget by 600 million. That is why what matters most is the outturn. The outturn matters. If you are allocated 400 million and you spend a billion, that is what is wrong. And you should avert you mind to it. As a former Deputy Minister of Education, you should be telling the whole truth", Dr Akoto Osei responded to the North Tongu MP.

Mr Ablakwa who was not convinced by the explanation, further argued that,"there have always been ministers of state at the office of government machinery. What we have now, we were told at the Appointments Committee that these are ministers of state and not ministries".