The Minority caucus in Parliament has strongly criticised the budget allocation in the 2024 budget for the Office of the President and the Chief of Staff Secretariat.
The caucus is demanding an explanation for what they perceive as excessive increases.
Citing a 100% surge in the President's office budget to over GH¢1 billion and GH¢277 million cedis allocation for the Chief of Staff's office, the Minority leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson called for justification for these exponential increases.
In his remarks, Dr. Ato Forson raised concerns about the significant rise in the Office of the President's budget, particularly its goods and services allocation, which stands at GH¢450 million.
He questioned the need for such substantial funding, especially in the context of the country facing an economic crisis.
“The Office of the President, in particular, their budget is being increased by over 100 percent, from 2023 to 2024 so what exactly are they going to do in 2024, is it the elections, is that the reason they have budgeted so much? The office of the presidency alone, their goods and services alone is 450 million cedis,” he stated in a citinewsroom.com report.
He added that the country is in a state of economic crisis, hence there is the need for prudence in the expenditure in 2024.
“The budget they have allocated to the Office of the President alone is GH¢1 billion and GH¢93 million for the year 2024. Mr Speaker, All of us agree that the country is in a crisis and there is a need for us to be careful about how we spend money,” he added.
The Minority further criticised the establishment of Development Authorities, such as the Coastal Development Authority (CODA), labelling them as a waste of resources and a pretext to amass resources for wrongful spending.
They called for the outlawing of these authorities, asserting that they have failed to fulfil their mandates.
Governs Agbodza, the Minority Chief Whip, spearheaded the criticism against these authorities, asserting that they serve as channels for diverting funds away from critical areas.
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Minority Leader in parliament, Cassiel Ato Forson