The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) took keen interest in the deliberation of the 2023 budget by the Parliament of Ghana, and commends the leadership, and Members of Parliament for their assertiveness in exercising the ‘power of the purse’ function by scrutinizing the government budget proposals in a consensus manner.
We commend the House’s decision to disapprove allocations to the National Cathedral and reallocation to the Roads and Communications ministries, demolition and redevelopment of a new Accra International Conference Center (AICC), and establishment of three new diplomatic missions in Jamaica, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago. The decision to also defund the Special Development Initiatives and Monitoring and Evaluation secretariats at the Office of the President as well as slashing the Contingency Vote by half, among other cost cutting measures is a great demonstration that the Members of Parliament are in touch with the economic reality of the country and will assist the government to spend the scarce public resources judiciously.
The Center sees this as one of the important dividends of the ‘Hung Parliament’ so far, and call on Parliament to remain even more vigilant in its oversight role in the New Year.
In addition, the Center would like to encourage the Members of Parliament to take advantage of the recess period to engage their constituents to keep them well-informed about their roles.