Alban Bagbin Accuses Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta Of Starving Parliament Financially
- The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has expressed concern that the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has not been advancing funds to the House
- The Speaker said the lack of funds was preventing the Parliament from carrying out some of its critical functions
- Alban Bagbin stressed on May 26 while addressing MPs that Parliament was neither an NGO nor a government agency and urged the Finance Minister to treat it with respect
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Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has accused Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, of starving the legislative house of critical funds to carry out its functions.
Source: Facebook
Addressing legislators in Parliament on Thursday, May 26, the Speaker said the House was currently broke. The Speaker explained that the lack of funds made it impossible for him to approve financial commitments of the House.
“It is not because I like declining your requests. It is because we don’t have the wherewithal to fund those operations”, he explained. The Ministry of Finance should not treat Parliament like a ministry or NGO,” he said.
He added: “This is an arm of government…We are not part of the MMDAs.”
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(Watch from 30 minutes, 30 seconds onwards for his comments)
He revealed Parliament has received requests from the Finance Ministry to reduce its budget, in some cases by 50%.
“If they want Parliament to run aground, they should let us know”, he stressed.
“The Speaker is not ready and prepared to be blamed for the inability to get Parliament going on just because we are not getting the necessary funding,” he added.
2024 Election: Ken Agyapong Declares Intention To Lead NPP As Presidential Candidate
Meanwhile, in a separate story YEN.com.gh reported that maverick Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Ken Agyapong, has declared his intention to run for president on the ticket of the NPP in the 2024 general elections.
Speaking to The Announcer Newspaper during a Facebook live interview, the legislator said he is the only person in NPP who has what it takes to continue the legacy of the current president, Nana Akufo-Addo.
“That is the confidence I have,” he said in the live interview recorded on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
Akufo-Addo Voted as Ghana's Worst President Since Independence in Twitter Survey
Also, a random survey hosted by a journalist on Twitter has voted President Nana Akufo-Addo as the worst president Ghana has had since independence.
Voting for the survey hosted by Accra-based Citi News’ Kojo Akoto Boateng ended at 8:53 pm on Wednesday, May 18, 2022. 78.6% of the 10,283 people voted “Akufo-Addo” in a list that also had “Rawlings”, “Mahama”, and "Limann".
Mahama got 14.8% votes; Rawlings, 4.1%, and Limann, 2.5%. The survey seems to back reports that although Akufo-Addo has won two elections in 2016 and 2020, some of his unpopular decisions are haunting his presidency.
Source: YEN.com.gh
