Parliament: NDC MPs won’t boycott the reading of the Budget 2023 – Minority Leader

The Minority side in Parliament has stated their readiness to welcome Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to the House tomorrow, Thursday, November 23, 2023 as he presents the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the government for the 2023 year.

There has been uncertainty in whether the Side would appear in the House tomorrow or stage a boycott of proceedings following a vote of censure filed by some of their members against the Finance Minister whose performance in the management of the economy has widely been described as horrible.

A press statement signed by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu and released on the eve of the budget reading has, however, cleared the doubts. The release is titled “NDC Group Will be in Parliament for 2023 Budget Statement.”

It says:

The NDC Group in Parliament wishes to place on record, that it will be in Parliament on Thursday 24th November 2022 for the presentation of the 2023 Budget to save the ailing economy.

Our presence will be without prejudice to the ongoing Committee hearing on the Motion of Censure brought against the Finance Minister who we hold responsible, together with other Government Appointees, for the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and the attendant hardships.

While we remain committed to seeing through the process to censure of the Finance Minister, we are mindful of our duty to carry out oversight on the Executive and preserve the interest of the Ghanaian people whose livelihoods the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration has severely undermined through mismanagement of the economy.

We are also mindful of the timelines regarding the IMF negotiations and the crucial role a timely presentation of the 2023 Budget will play in the advancement of these talks aimed at securing a program to bring the ailing economy back on track. We however wish to make it clear, that we will resist any effort to impose additional hardships on Ghanaians through draconian and deleterious fiscaI policies in the Budget.

We have on many occasions offered clear alternative pathways to resuscitating the economy and have highlighted the need for drastic cuts in non-essential Government expenditures and more prudent use of scarce national resources. We have also demanded greater transparency and accountability in public financial management.

It is our expectation that our many alternative proposals will find expression in the budget and signal a change in course by the failed Akufo-Addo/Bawumia Government. We wish to assure the Ghanaian people that we stand with them in these difficult times and we will not relent in our efforts to hold the managers of the economy to account.

We must however place on record that the flip-flop behavior of the NPP MPs amounts to a betrayal of the public trust.

Signed

HON HARUNA IDDRISU