Deputy Minority Whip of Parliament, Hon. Ahmed Ibrahim, has alleged that the Minister for Finance prior to the rejection of the 2022 budget had on countless times refused to answer phone calls from the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin.
According to him, the incessant calls to the Finance Minister was for him to avail himself to parliament for further discussions in parliament on the 2022 budget.
Speaking on Okay FM’s ‘Ade Akye Abia’ programme, he explained that the minority prior to their act on Friday had through diverse effort sort to have the problems of the 2022 budget rectified but defiant Ken Ofori-Atta did not avail himself to the House.
” . . before the minority’s act last Friday, I remember very well how the Speaker called the Finance Minister on different occasions on phone just to pass some information to him for certain aspects of the budget to be corrected but Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta refused to answer those calls.
“We are trying to be hard hearted but we want the government to feel and understand the hardships Ghanaians are going through in the hands of the NPP Government,” the Banda MP told host Kwame Nkrumah.
The Banda legislature added that they are ever ready to meet their brothers from the majority side and reach a conclusion on the 2022 budget.
“However, they should be ready to revise the 2022 budget,” he added.
2022 Budget rejected
Parliament has rejected government’s 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy read in the House by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, last week.
A walkout by the Majority from Parliament on Friday, November 26, 2021, did not prevent the House from continuing with the business of the day.
Members on the majority side staged a walkout after a disagreement over a voice vote which did not go in their favour.
Parliament was to conclude the debate on the 2022 budget statement and approve the policy document.
A last-minute request by the Finance Minister to meet with the leadership of the House was turned down by MPs after the Speaker of Parliament announced that the ‘Nos’ had won the voice vote.
Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, thus challenged the Speaker’s interpretation of the voice vote and called for a ‘division’.
Mr. Bagbin subsequently directed that, per orders of the House, non-MPs had to vacate the Chamber during the division process.
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