Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for this great opportunity to contribute to the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2015 financial year, presented to Parliament on Wednesday 19th November, 2014 by the Hon Minister for Finance.
Mr Speaker, I would want to begin with the issue that has been reiterated in paragraph 235 of the said document and it reads that in 2015, the Ministry, referring the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, will continue to develop, co-ordinate and articulate Ghana's position at regional, continental and international conferences on matters relating to the promotion of international peace, security and sustainable develop- ment.
Mr Speaker, this has always been the foreign policy agenda for Ghana. That Ghana places herself in her subregion of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) and on the international platform, the United Nations (UN) and in all that, to be able to speak for Ghana and to be able to negotiate for the betterment of Ghana.
Mr Speaker, on this note, I would want to quote paragraph 240 of the Budget Statement, which states that:
“The Ministry will also facilitate the participation of Ghanaian com- panies in trade fairs abroad and vice versa as well as report on multilateral and trade meetings in order to take full advantage of preferential access to markets abroad. In that connection . . . ”
Much emphasis placed on that sentence --
“In that connection, Ghana will lead the ECOWAS team to ensure the formal signing of the EPA with the EU as soon as possible.”
Mr Speaker, inasmuch as the Economic Partnership Agreement has its strengths, that same way it has its weaknesses. And for that matter, Ghana ought to take into consideration whether signing on to the Economic Partnership Agreement would help the country as a whole.
Mr Speaker, again, we have our President, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama being the Chairman of ECOWAS -- [Hear! Hear!] And for that matter, places Ghana at the pivot of this decision whether we are signing up fully to the Economic Partnership Agreement.
Mr Speaker, the purpose for which we are signing or we want to sign on to the Economic Partnership Agreement is to promote free movement of goods and
services and also promote com- petitiveness between the European Union markets and the markets of ECOWAS member States, of which Ghana is a member.
Mr Speaker, what baffles my mind is the fact that countries like Nigeria and, la Côte d'Ivoire -- if you compare the geographical size of Nigeria to Ghana, if you compare the revenue or the natural resources of Nigeria to Ghana and if you compare the same to la Côte d'Ivoire, you would notice that Ghana is minute or small in terms of comparison.
Nigeria as a country is seriously and strongly opposing the Economic Partnership Agreement and so is la Côte d'Ivoire also against the complete or total signing on to the Economic Partnership Agreement. Why then is Ghana rushing on to sign on to it?
Mr Speaker, if you look at our current economic situation -- [Interruption] -- our energy problems, our people cannot be fed three times a day but are fed only once a day. Our children's school fees cannot be paid: the little that our companies are able to produce here, we are telling ourselves that we want to sign on to an agreement where the European Union countries would have 75 per cent free access to trade in goods and services to Ghana and ECOWAS member States, whereas we have 100 per cent access to their markets out there.
Mr Speaker, the question you ask yourself is, how many of our exports go to the European countries compared to how many they can take advantage of in the subregion of which Ghana is a member?
Comparatively, I do not see why and the people of Ghana want to know why we want to sign on to an Economic Partnership Agreement when the big wigs
of the subregion, those who matter in the subregion, like Nigeria, which command a lot of resources are even saying that let us think twice about it.
Mr Speaker, what even makes the matter worse is that in paragraph 240 of the Budget Statement, it states:
“The Ministry will also facilitate the participation of Ghanaian com- panies in trade fairs abroad and vice versa as well as report on multi- lateral and trade meetings in order to take full advantage of preferential access to markets abroad. In that connection . . .”
Mr Speaker, I place emphasis on this last sentence --
“In that connection, Ghana will lead the ECOWAS team to ensure the formal signing of the EPA with the EU as soon as possible.”
Mr Speaker, this is a clear indication that indeed, a decision has been taken on whether Ghana is signing on and I am pleading, and the pleading that the people of Ghana will not benefit but rather suffer woefully if we sign on to the Partnership Agreement. And so as Nigeria and la Côte d'Ivoire are thinking twice about it, we urge Ghana and the Chairman of the ECOWAS, who happens to be the President of Ghana, not to lead us into doom, not to lead us into total mess, but rather think twice and see and compare how many of our companies can afford to participate in trade fairs abroad.
Let us ask ourselves as compared to how many of the European countries can organise or be part of trade fairs in Ghana.
Mr Speaker, the comparative research and the comparative indication are so clear and they are starring into our faces.
Mr Speaker, I would want to move on to the issue of passports. Mr Speaker, we are told in paragraph 248 and with your permission I beg to quote:
“Mr Speaker, the Passport Office, in the first half of the year, produced 226 diplomatic passports, . . .”
Mr Speaker, 226 diplomatic passports, 120 service passports, 109,232 ordinary passports for applicants in the country to facilitate their travels outside Ghana and for identification.
Mr Speaker, on this note, we are told that the Ministry has taken a step to ensure that passport applications in our various missions, as well as here in Ghana can be applied for online and for that matter, they are going to go Information Communica- tion Technology (ICT). That is very commendable and it is a step in the right direction. But Mr Speaker, the emphasis is “BUT” let us ask ourselves, are we prepared financially to move from a paper system to a computerized system?
Mr Speaker, again, the question we ought to ask ourselves -- The people whom we are targeting, who are our prospective clients, who would be applying for passports -- let us ask ourselves, are these people computer literates, would they be able to assess it as much as they can? Our Ghanaians abroad who want to have access to passports to be able to travel, is it worth it?
Again, the question we ought to ask ourselves is how much scrutiny goes into the issuance of diplomatic passports in the country. Mr Speaker, Ghana's international image has been built over the years and we owe the people of Ghana that obligation to restore and be able to maintain that international recognition and respect that we have.
We wake up one morning and there are stories all over about who is holding diplomatic passport and who is not. For that matter, we are urging that in moving forward, we ought to have a critical
scrutiny who is illegible to have a diplomatic passport, and be able to track all those who use diplomatic passports in travels in the country for the good of the country.
Mr Speaker, on this note, I would want to end with a quotation, one of my favourite quotations by the former President of America, John F. Kennedy, and this I am quoting from his book, “Quotations of John F. Kennedy” page 21 to 22:
“Domestic policies only defeats us; foreign policy can kill us”
“For the purpose if foreign policy is not to provide an outlet for our own sentiments of hope or indignation, it is to shape real events in a real world”.
And for that matter, if Ghana wants to shake, change and make a difference in the real world and on the international scale, we ought to take our international policies and for that matter, the Ministry of Finance should be on its feet.
