Ken Ofori-Atta’s budget pointless – Mahdi Jibril

National Organizer Aspirant and communication team member for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mahdi Jibril has alluded that discussions about budget reviews under the Akufo-Addo-led administration is “a waste of valuable time”

According to him, implementing constructive ideas and budgetary principles has been the major downfall of the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) government. He believes that the NPP presents to Ghanaians an annual failed and mischievous budget.

In an interview with Don Kwabena Prah on Happy98.9 FM’s “Epa Hoa Daben socio-political talk show, Mahdi Jibril indicated that despite the infamous name tags usually attached to the reading of the budget, the country continues to remain dormant and consistently mismanaged.

“To discuss NPP budget, after midyear budget has been read or whatever and we come here to debate about it then I think we’re only wasting our time. Because we’ve seen budget read with big name tags and at the end of the name where the country is with the current inflation skyrocketing and our reserves continue to deplete and everything else that is said to be done and can be done in this budget doesn’t seem to work,” he said.

“So for me if there’s another midyear report and we are expected to sit here and talk about it then we are just wasting valuable efforts. Like I said the implementation always shows what has been achieved and what can be achieved. If you bring a budget and name it ‘Nk)su budget’ (progressive budget) at the end of the day we tend to retrogress. So many big names for clueless budgets,” he added.

Mahdi Jibril further opined that Ghanaians regarded this year’s mid-year budget as less important because “they have lost hope and know that nothing meaningful will come out from it. For me, I wasn’t expecting anything from it because I know he was going to do his usual long talks with some Bible quotations.”

On Monday, July 25 in Parliament, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta presented the Midyear Budget for 2022. During the delivery, Ken Ofori-Att attributed the government’s decision to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial support to unprecedented Global Challenges.

He added that the country was on the path of recovery until the Russia-Ukraine war compounded Ghana’s financial crisis.

Ken Ofori-Atta further disclosed that the collection of tolls will resume on the Tema Motorway under the Ministry of Roads and Highways (MoRH) Public-Private Partnership (PPP). He indicated that a draft Concession Agreement (CA) between GIIF and the Ministry of Roads and Highways (MoRH) is currently under review by the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Finance.

“When completed, the CA is expected to be approved by the PPP Committee, Cabinet and Parliament. The completed road will be tolled to recover the whole life cost of the completed infrastructure as well as pay lenders and provide a return for equity investors,” he disclosed.