Former President John Dramani Mahama claims the budget for the Office of the President in the last six years has seen a massive increase from ¢700million to ¢3.1billion.
According to him, this is unsustainable, especially in the current economic crisis the country finds itself.
He said this in a tweet on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, adding that for expenditure rationalization to be successful, it must first start in the President’s office, thus Akufo-Addo cut the budget to his office.
“The budget for the Office of the President has ballooned, over the last six years, from GH¢700m to GH¢ 3.1bn in 2022,” he tweeted on Tuesday November 8.
Mahama believes government can make Substantial savings of at least ¢1bn slashing the budget.
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The budget for the Office of the President has ballooned, over the last six years, from GH¢700m to GH¢ 3.1bn in 2022. For expenditure rationalization to be successful, it must first start in the President’s office. Substantial savings of GH¢1bn can be made by slashing the budget.
— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) November 8, 2022
Mr Mahama said the highest office of the land should “show the way.”
He was speaking in an interview with VOA Africa on Wednesday, October 12.
“If the President himself is cutting the budget of government machinery, then everyone must be prepared to make a sacrifice.”
He also insisted that the country cannot continue seeking such support from the Breton Woods Institution.
According to him, home-grown policies aimed at transforming the economy and equipping the youth must be implemented.
Mr Mahama added that IMF loans will not cure all economic ills because Ghana will still lack credibility on its own.
“You can implement a home-grown fiscal consolidated policy, but unfortunately, a lot of local and foreign investors will probably doubt that you can live by the promises that you make unless you have an institution like the IMF working with you.”