Mr
Speaker, I pray my Hon Colleagues
to grant me space to make my
contribution because of my physical
constitution.
Mr Speaker, I think it is
important to relate to what we
know. At the beginning of the Hon
Minority Leader's contribution, he referred to a petition that he and I
were to receive from the
demonstrators under the auspices of
Fix the Country, but we never
received any petition when we went
there. The leader said he would
bring five more of their leadership
to present the petition for onward
relay to Mr Speaker. We gave them
the opportunity, but when they
retreated, there was confusion
among themselves and they came
back to indicate to us that they
would rather accept 10 of them to
present the petition to us. When we
gave them the opportunity to come
with 10 people, it ended up in
confusion such that the petition they
were holding was shredded into
pieces. No petition was presented to
us. That is why I am surprised that
the Hon Minority Leader said that
the petition was about the
withdrawal of the E-Levy - [Interruption] - that was what he said. It then appeared to me that he
was part of those who composed the
petition that the people wanted to
Mr Speaker, either than that, a
petition that was not presented to us
- he and I were to receive it together, but it never came to us. It
was shredded into pieces and he
came to Parliament to say that it
was about E-Levy withdrawal. How
did he know, Mr Octopus Paul?
Mr Speaker, the Minority
Leader said that krom aye hye. Se
krom aye hyea enye ene na krom yee
hye. To wit, things are hard in the
country. If the things are hard, it did
not start today. [Uproar!] They are
telling us that krom aye hye because
of the proposal to introduce new
taxes. But are new taxes of today?
Mr Speaker, in 2014, the NDC
Administration introduced direct
taxes. They increased the
withholding tax rate on commercial
rent from eight per cent to 15 per
cent; they undertook transfer
pricing audit to reduce transfer
pricing abuse; they increased the
withholding tax rate on
management and technical service
fees from 15 per cent to 20 per cent
- [Hear! Hear!] - Hon Ato Forson, ene na kurom aye hye? They
expanded the scope of capital gains
tax to cover petroleum operations;
they reintroduced the windfall tax
bill here in Parliament; and they
introduced the Special Import Levy.
In direct taxes, 2.5 per cent
increase in VAT rate to be allocated
to infrastructure funds; they
introduced Special Electronic Point
of Sale Device Scheme; they
introduced tax stamps on selected
excisable products, and they
changed bases for petroleum excise
for specific to ad valorem and they
increased the Road Fund Levy from
GH₵0.10 to GH₵1.00; 900 per cent increase overnight - [Uproar] - Ene na krom aye hye? People
should be honest with themselves.
Mr Speaker, in 2015, they
introduced direct taxes. They
increased the minimum income tax
rate for Free Zones Entities from 8
per cent to 15 per cent; there was
extension of 5 per cent National
Fiscal Stabilisation Levy, they
increased the withholding tax rate
on director's remuneration from 10 per cent to 20 per cent; they
increased Excise Duty on tobacco
from 150 per cent to 175 per cent -
[Uproar] - Ene na krom aye hye? There was reversal of Excise on
petroleum from ad valorem to
specific with the intention of
maximising tax revenue from
petroleum products regardless of
shocks from the global
environment. The VAT for free
base financial service was also
introduced, 5 per cent VAT on
commercial real estate was
introduced. Ene na kurom aye hye?
- Dr Ato Forson was the Deputy
Finance Minister?
Mr Speaker, in 2015, they
extended Special Import Levy from
1 per cent to 2 per cent. With
indirect taxes, they introduced 5 per
cent flat rate on real estates; they
amended the National Health
Insurance Act to fully align the
schedules to the VAT Act of 2013
(Act 870). They then abolished
VAT relief purchase order in
granting of tax relieves in 2015.
They imposed Special Petroleum
Tax of 17.5 per cent for the people
in 2015.
What is being done now for
foreigners? Mr Speaker, people
should be honest to themselves.
Mr Speaker, they continued with
the enforcement of 1 per cent to 2
per cent Special Import Levy.
Mr Speaker, the National
Democratic Congress' (NDC) Administration continued the
enforcement of the one to two per
cent Special Import Levy up to the
year 2017, that is just before they
left office, and they introduced
taxes on cutlasses and machetes.
They introduced taxes on condoms
to aid in family planning and to
prevent the Acquired Immuno
Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
disease, which was going to impact
on our health financing. Ene na
kurom aye hye, me boa? To wit, “Is it today that things are hard in the
country?”
Mr Speaker, in the year 2016,
they implemented the Income Tax
Act, the full rollout of Excise Tax
Stamp Project. The maximum tax
rate for free zones was increased
from eight to 25 per cent in 2016.
Also, they implemented measures
they said were going to address
revenue leakages, but ended up
imposing additional taxes.
Mr Speaker, then there was the
re-imposition of excise duty on
cider beer, and I know Hon Ato
Forson is a fan of cider beer. They
then reviewed income tax and
threshold VAT, all in the year 2016.
I would want to ask the Hon
Adongo: ene na kurom aye hye me
boa? Thou shall not bear false
Mr Speaker, in the 2017 Budget
Statement, we abolished the one per
cent Special Import Levy that they
introduced. We abolished the 17 per
cent VAT NHIL on financial
services, and that is under the
Akufo-Addo's Administration. We abolished the 17.5 per cent VAT
NHIL on selected imported
medicines that are not produced
locally, and that was under the
Akufo-Addo's Administration. We initiated steps to remove import
duties on raw materials and
machinery for production within the
context of the Economic
Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) Common External
Tariff Protocol, and these were
done under the Akufo-Addo's Administration, but at the time of
the NDC Administration, they
existed.
Mr Speaker, we also abolished
the 17 per cent VAT NHIL on
domestic airline tickets; the five per
cent VAT NHIL on real estate
savings; excise duty on petroleum;
and reduced special petroleum tax
rate from 17 per cent to 15 per cent.
We also abolished duty on the
importation of spare parts; levies
imposed on Kayayei by local
authorities; levies imposed on
religious institutions by local
authorities; exempted from taking
taxation, the gains from the
realisation of securities listed on the
Ghana Stock Exchange publicly
held securities approved by the
Securities and Exchange
Commission. We then reduced the
National Electrification Scheme
Levy from 5 per cent to 3 per cent.
Mr Speaker, we replaced the
17.5 per cent VAT NHIL rate with
a flat rate of three per cent for
traders and we implemented tax
credits and other incentives for
businesses that hire young
graduates. These were the reliefs
initiated and indeed, passed into law
under the Akufo-Addo regime.
[Hear! Hear!] I think that if we
must be honest with ourselves, se
krom aye hye a, it began in the era
of the NDC Administration.
Mr Speaker, on Friday as I said,
the Minister came with the Budget
Statement and he responded to the
realities of 2016 after eight years of
the NDC Administration. The
Minister did not mince words
because it is said that if one does not
know where he comes from, he
would not be able to make progress
moving ahead, and it is the reason
the Minister related to the situation
that he met in 2016. He said, and I
quote:
“When we inherited office, the economy was in a very
bad shape, suffocating
under a mixed weight of
debts, arrears, very high
cost of living, high youth
unemployment and the
worst growth rates since
1994, which is the worst
growth rate in 26 years.”
Mr Speaker, that was in 2016. If
we went back, before the COVID-
19 pandemic, the most shambolic
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
growth rate was witnessed in 2014
of 2.2 per cent. It was the worst
GDP growth rate in 32 years, and
that was under the former President
Mahama, and they had courage to
applaud that. This time around, the
COVID-19 situation, as we all
know, is unprecedented, and it has
not only affected Ghana. The fact is
that it was not due to
mismanagement as happened. We
all know the realities; the rising
global inflation occasioned by the
COVID-19 pandemic
circumstances, disruption of supply
chains, rising costs of shipment and
the unstable financial markets,
which is making borrowing high
risk, and coming at high cost. These
realities are known by our Hon
Colleagues, but conveniently, they
avoided these home truths, or is the
case that anybody from amongst
them would rise to challenge these
home truths?
Mr Speaker, these are some of
the rampaging effects of COVID-19
that we all do know, that families in
Ghana lost loved ones, private
school teachers lost income for 12
months, business owners lost
considerable income, and many
thousands of hospitality and
tourism sector workers were laid
off. We all do know that Kempinski
is the flagship hotel in this country.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic,
they employed 360 people, but in
the COVID-19 year, they had lay
off 300 of the 360 staff and retained
only 60. That was the extent of the
devastation of the COVID-19
pandemic. So, for anybody to elect
to gloss over these realities and
come to criticise Government for
mismanagement, the person is not
owning up to himself or herself, or
to the realities.
Mr Speaker, we know that food
security was even threatened. There
was great slump in businesses,
especially those built around
traditional and other social events.
Unemployment worsened, industry
slumped, productivity generally
downsized, and the economy got
severely punched. My Hon
Colleagues would admit to these
hard facts, yet, as I said,
conveniently, they elected not to
proceed from this angle.
Mr Speaker, in response to the
battering of the economy,
Government took measures to
protect lives and property. Some
amount of 4.78 million people were
provided with hot meals. A number
of 470, 000 families were given
food packages; an amount of
GH₵36.8 million in tax exemptions were granted to frontline staff; 10
million households were provided
with free water; 38,000 nurses were
employed to offer critical support;
4.78 million households were
provided with free electricity; and
11 million staff and students were
supplied with Personal Protection
Equipment (PPEs). All these came
at a cost.
Mr Speaker, not a single worker
in the public sector lost their job,
and all of them who worked in the
public sector were paid their full
remunerations at the end of each
month. A number of 3,300
beneficiaries received financial
assistance from the Ghana
Enterprises Agency (formerly
NBSSI), amounting to over
GH₵523 million. These are the hard realities of the COVID-19
economic environment, and it is
important to flash back to address
our minds to the performance of the
economy before the COVID-19
pandemic descended on Ghana.
Mr Speaker, growth in
agriculture was declining under the
watch of the NDC Administration
in 2016. In that year, agriculture
grew by 2.9 per cent, but by 2019, it
had increased to 4.6 per cent. Crops
grew at 2.2 per cent in 2016, and by
2019, it had increased by 5.3 per
cent. Cocoa, which grew at -7.0 per
cent in 2016, by 2019 had grown at
5.4 per cent.
The growth in industry was
abysmal in 2016 at 4.3 per cent.
Under the New Patriotic Party
(NPP), it grew to 15.7 per cent in
2017; 10.6 per cent in 2018; and 6.4
per cent in 2019. These are the hard
realities of life and of our national
development.
Mr Speaker, mining and quarry
that grew at only 0.2 per cent in
2016, grew by 12.6 per cent in 2019
before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oil and gas which grew at -15.6 per
cent in 2016 -[Interruption]- has
grown to 15.1 per cent in 2019.
These are the hard realities. Mr
Speaker, electricity under their
watch grew at negative 5.8 per cent
but by 2019, it had grown to 6.0 per
cent. Water and Sewage grew at -
11.8 per cent. Mr Speaker, these are
the hard realities —[Interruption]-
Mr Speaker, all the indices of
economic growth under the NDC
and President John Dramani
Mahama and President Akufo-
Addo, there is a world of difference.
Inflation: the banking sector raised
a 91-day Treasury Bills and fiscal
deficits. They all attest to the better
job the Akufo-Addo Administration
has been doing, especially on the
external front, with particular
reference to trade deficits and gross
international reserves.
Mr Speaker, even today, in spite
of the COVID-19, the gross
international reserves accumulated
under this Government is
unprecedented in the history of this
country. The other day, I heard my
Hon Colleague, Hon Okudzeto
Ablakwa refer to the ECOWAS
Convergence Criteria. He should
please check his facts. When we
had 10 criteria; four primary and six
secondary criteria, there was not an
occasion that they scored five out of
10 under Mills-Mahama
Administration. The best was four
out of 10 and when they
synchronised under President
Mahama, their best was two out of
six. And they have the courage to
talk about Convergence Criteria?
The annus horribilis of this
Government is last year and yet, we
met three out of six of the criteria.
So, our annus horribilis is better
than their best performance. They
should swallow the bitter pill and
own up to truthfulness; Hon
Adongo, truthfulness would not kill
you -[Laughter] -
Mr Speaker, there is something
called truthfulness; we do not
manufacture facts. Support for
industry and entrepreneurship; 181
companies at the beginning of 2020
had benefited under the 1D1F. As
of now, as the Minister recounted to
us in July, this year, 106 of the
factories have started production
and 81 are still in the works. Again,
surprisingly, we had a Member rise
up to say that the figures that the
Minister for Trade and Industry
came to give were manufactured by
him; they were all proposed
employment opportunities and that
by extension, nobody is benefiting
from the rollout of the 1D1F. How
insincere can we be on that?
Mr Speaker, 20,000 students had
by the beginning of 2020 been
trained under the Student
Entrepreneurship Initiative; 100
physically challenged women have
been empowered to start their own
businesses; 19,500 start-up
businesses have received training
support under the Government
Entrepreneurship Programme.
Mr Speaker, IDEG Programmes
— we do recollect that 307 ambulances to each Constituency
and all regional and teaching
hospitals were purchased; 200 dams
have been completed and 560
additional dams were under
construction at the beginning of
2020 before the advent of COVID-
19.
Mr Speaker, 50 pre-fabricated
grey warehouses have been
constructed by the end of 2019 to
reduce post-harvest losses. And yet,
people say that they do not see
anything under the Akufo-Addo led
Administration. Christ Jesus said in
his parables that those who have
eyes to see, let them see; those who
have ears to hear, let them hear.
Kwame, if you have eyes to see,
you would see; if you have ears to
hear, you would hear.
Mr Speaker, clearly, the country
was on the course of even greater
achievements even in 2020
predicated on one, the expanded
domestic revenue mobilisation; the
business regulatory reforms;
intensified drive for foreign direct
investments; enhanced financial
support to local enterprises; the
digitisation programme; the
accelerated infrastructural
development especially, roads,
hospitals and educational facilities
and science and technology drive.
All these were being undertaken
and then, from nowhere, we had the
COVID-19 invasion.
Mr Speaker, the COVID-19
invasion in my view, can be likened
to the force majeure that this
country experienced in 1982/83 - the draught and the wild goose fires.
It is not the self-inflicted dumsor-
dumsor. And the growth out of this
is phenomenal. It is important to
come to grips with the impact of
COVID-19 on ECOWAS country.
The ECOWAS sub-region's average annual GDP growth in
2020 was -2.5 per cent. Ghana
thankfully, did not register a sub-
zero growth. Ghana kept its head
above water at the time the world
economy came under recession.
Only four countries in the sub-
region did better than Ghana in
2020. Nigeria registered negative
4.3 per cent; Liberia registered
negative 3.0 per cent; Sierra Leone
registered negative 3.1 per cent; the
Gambia registered negative 1.8 per
cent; Cape Verde registered
negative 6.8 per cent; Togo
registered 0.0 per cent; Mali
registered negative 2.0 per cent;
Guinea Bissau registered negative
2.9 per cent; Burkina Faso
registered negative 2.2 per cent and
Senegal registered 0.7 per cent. The
countries that did better than Ghana
are la Cote D'Ivoire negative 1.8
per cent; Guinea registered 1.4 per
cent; Benin registered 2 per cent
and Niger registered 0.5 per cent.
Mr Speaker, these countries did
better than Ghana in the 16
ECOWAS nations in the sub-region
but none of these countries that did
better than us went to the extent
Ghana did to mitigate the impact of
COVID-19 on the economy and on
the people like providing hot meals.
None of them did that. Mr Speaker,
the uncooked meals that were
provided; providing free water and
electricity; providing business
support as Ghana did; not one of
them did that. That is why they were
able to do better than Ghana. Speak
the truth and it shall set you free.
Mr Speaker, it is important to
state that all these West African
countries were registering in the
region, real growth rate in the
positive before the advent of the
COVID-19. Whereas, Ghana grew
by 6.5 per cent in 2019, la Cote
D'Ivoire grew by 6.5 per cent; Senegal, 5.3 per cent; Guinea, 5.6
per cent; Burkina Faso, 5.7 per cent;
Benin, 6.9 per cent; Guinea Bissau,
4.5 per cent; Mali, 5.1 per cent;
Niger, 5.9 per cent; Togo, 5.3 per
cent; Cape Verde, 5.7 per cent; The
Gambia, 6.1 per cent; Sierra Leone,
5.1 per cent; and Nigeria, 2.2 per
cent.
Mr Speaker, so, Ghana like all
these, was on a very smooth
trajectory until COVID-19 struck.
That is what we must speak to and
not just look into the air and
manufacture or engage in
conjectures. It would not help us. If
we compare it to 2014, 2015 and
2016, we would realise that the
average growth rate in West Africa
was 5 per cent and yet we grew by
2.2 and 3.4 per cent in Ghana under
their watch. They must do serious
introspection to realise that their
management of the economy was
most abysmal and incompetent.
Mr Speaker, until the COVID-
19 pandemic, this Administration
expanded the economy between 16
and 17 per cent annually.
Resultantly, revenue available to
Government expanded that much.
In 2020, the GDP was targeted to
grow to about GH₵420 billion and for 2021, it was projected to expand
further to GH₵450 billion. It shrunk because of the COVID-19
pandemic. In that regard, if we
expanded that much and borrowed,
it meant that both the numerator and
denominator expanded so the debt
to GDP ratio was manageable. This
is basic economics. The debt to
GDP ratio did not increase that
much at that time but when the
COVID-19 pandemic struck the
economy could not grow. On the
contrary, expenditure escalated to
provide for the effect of the forced
majeure and this should mean that
the country's debt to GDP would balloon as we are seeing because
the denominator shrunk while the
numerator expanded. That is the
reason. However, people have
talked about a comparison that
when they existed, the total debt
stock was GH₵120 billion but today, it is in the region of GH₵341 billion. That is so, but what they do
not even relate to is that they
inherited the total debt stock of
GH₵9.6 billion. At the time they were leaving, it had climbed up to
GH₵120 billion because when they came to power, the cedi to dollar
exchange rate was GH₵1.1 to US$1 but when you string out according
to the months and years, the total
debt stock they added in dollar
terms, was US$47 billion. They
should check today - when we string out, it would be about US$33
billion. They should not mislead
Ghanaians. They should do it in
nominal dollar terms and come to
the reality. They could appeal to
those people in the streets that,
things have gone up - they should speak to the truth. The truth shall set
Mr Speaker, when one listens to
some of these things one wonders
where some people come from;
whether they come from Neptune or
Jupiter. We are in Ghana so they
should speak to the Ghanaian
situation but they omit to speak to
the truth and that is why they are
able to pollute the environment.
Some of my Hon Colleagues should
be cited for environmental pollution
because they pollute Ghanaians
with half-baked truths. Let us come
to the home truth. The Hon Member
for Yepei/Kusawgu, Mr John
Jinapor talked about climate
change. He was the one who started
the financial environment debate.
Mr Speaker, the Government did
not shy away from its responsibility
and indeed, it has introduced
strategic interventions because we
know and yesterday, my Hon
Colleague himself a former Hon
Deputy Minister for Roads and
Highways, talked about the fact that
the last road audit in this country
was done in 2016 so when we say
that the current road network is in
the good region of 78, 000 km, that
78,000 km got yielded in 2016.
How untrue could that be?
Mr Speaker, when we conduct
population census, we do so every
10 years and there is a scientific
basis to project the year or two after
the census until we have another
census. They are all based on
projections. Yes, it is true that what
was done was done in 2016. What
came out was that it was 73,000 km
and the former Hon Minister from
their Side was in this House to
admit to it. Why do they want to
manufacture figures?
Mr Speaker, it is true that since
independence till the former
President Kufuor's time, the total road network was 39,000 km. It was
the former President who increased
it from 39,000 km to 69,000 km.
The truth of the matter is that there
was no 30,000 km newly
constructed roads. There were a lot
of feeder roads that were not in the
system that were brought into
mainstream for purposes of
maintenance. That was how come
the road network increased from
39,000 km to 69,000 km. When the
NDC assumed power, they
increased the road network from
69,000 km to 73,000 km, an
addition of 4,000 km. What it meant
was that on yearly bases they
increased by 500 km and that is
commendable. Today, under the
Akufo-Addo led Administration, it
has grown from 73, 000 km to
almost 79,000 km and that was
what the Hon Chairman of the
Committee alluded to.
Mr Speaker, what this means is
that within a space of 20 years, the
total road network has doubled. We
need to maintain and service them.
It is this extraordinary ballooning of
the road network which has caused
the current state of affairs where
every Friday, Hon Members come
in to request the status of road
construction in their constituencies.
We need to maintain and complete
those that we have started. We must
admit that there are a lot of arrears
to road contractors. This is because
of what has happened within 20
years; the doubling of the roads.
Some of the roads are in Asawase,
Suame, Tamale Central, et cetera.
We must admit to the reality. We
need money to develop these roads.
This is one of the reasons the
Ministry is introducing the E-levy.
Mr Speaker, Hon Colleagues
have spoken to the ballooning of the
public debt and they have indicated
for the past two years that the
Government must be ingenious and
look within to mobilise resources.
Today, the Government has come
with the E-levy and they want to
change the goal post to say that we
should not go that way.
[Interruption] - Did I hear the Hon Member for Bolgatanga Central,
Mr Adongo say that we should go
and farm?
Mr Speaker, so we have seen
what mountain we have to climb, as
a nation. Their people need roads,
water, electricity, health facilities
and we are benchmarking lots of
these on the E-levy.
Mr Speaker, the Ghanaian
people need electricity, health
facilities, and we are benchmarking
lots of these on the yields of the E-
Levy; yet, they are saying that we
should not go there. They would not
allow us to go there. In the same
manner, we will also resist any
Government borrowing from
outside. Where should we have
money to develop this country?
[Uproar]—Kosi a enkosi; koda a, enkoda, to wit, they would not build
but would also not retreat for others
to build. How should we develop
this country? That is why I talk
about congruence of truthfulness
and being courageous to admit to
the truth.
Mr Speaker, the other day,
somebody said that when we talk
about unveiling about 106 factories
that are giving employment, we
often heard my Hon Colleagues
relate to one flagship project, the
Komenda Sugar Factory. Without
doubt, the Komenda Sugar Factor
had really good intentions but let us
face it; was it a feasible project at
the very outset? Let us interrogate
this. The acreage that was used to
produce the sugarcane at Komenda
is left with about 25 per cent of the
land. The out-grower lands have
gone into oil palm production. It is
not there.
Mr Speaker, they use to generate
raw water from Beposo, at
Komenda, to irrigate the sugarcane
lands. The water in the Pra is gone,
no thanks to galamsey. Where in the
world do we use treated and
purified water to irrigate
agricultural lands? If we did that, it
would add to the cost of production
and not make it feasible. So, we
should really interrogate it. It is not
based on sentiments. Let us relate to
these matters. I know it is dear to
some of our Hon Colleagues and, in
fact, all of us but let us interrogate
the economics of it to see whether it
is possible to go on with this
project.
Mr Speaker, as a nation that is
showing so much promise,
certainly, this country would attract
envy and enemies. That is why I am
happy that the Minister for Finance
gave some account on the urgent
need to retool the security and
intelligence services.
Mr Speaker, I heard my Hon
Colleague, Mr Agalga relate to the
fact that the retooling of the security
services started not yesterday nor
today. They have been with us since
the era of Mills and Mahama. That
is true. Every year, some allocation
is made to them to provide some
accoutrements for persons in the
Services but he, James Agalga,
agrees that the level of security
threat just four years ago is not like
what obtains now. He must admit to
this fact.
Mr Speaker, why does he not
want to relate to the current
situation? He should not politicise
these matters. We need to really
engage in what we should call real
retooling and retrofitting of our
security forces otherwise we may
be overtaken by events. That is why
when we met, all of us agreed that
fundamentally we require not less
than US$2 billion if we really want
to retool the security services.
Mr Speaker, the Minister says
that it is difficult to mobilise such
resources. We should allow them to
do prioritisation which is the reason
we are now looking at about
US$1.2 billion to retool the security
services to protect the security and
stability of this country. So, he
should not just relate to yesterday's event and pretend that nothing
serious is happening. Let us come
together on this.
Mr Speaker, as a nation, we are
in serious and dire straits. I think
this is the time to come together and
show our “Ghanaianness” - be together to protect the country as
one big hold. I agree that there are
some areas that we may have to
look at, in particular, the allocations
to Parliament and the Judiciary. We
would need to interrogate this but
we should also understand that
never in the history of this country
has Parliament had it better than we
have had it under Akufo-Addo.
Never! And yet, I recognise that
there is space to do better than the
Minister has done.
Mr Speaker, there are matters
that did not find concrete
expression in the Budget Statement
and Economic Policy of
Government. The other one that
was raised by the Hon Okudzeto
Ablakwa in respect of the Blekusu
Sea Defence Wall. I agree and that
is why I wanted us to listen to the
Hon Minister as to how we would
move on, it is because I think that
something immediate must be done.
Is it possible to have it captured in
the Budget Statement while the
ceilings have been given and how
we would do it? I thought that that
engagement with the leadership of
the various caucuses perhaps would
have produced that result and then
we could have spoken to it.
Mr Speaker, we are not
oblivious of the fact that what began
as Keta Sea Defence Wall was
initiated by Rawlings; in those days
of Mr Atta Owusu Ansah, Director
of Pentrexx Ghana Limited an
amount of GH₵11 million was given to the victims of those 103
houses that had been destroyed at
that time. It was at the instance of
the Minority at the time, edified so
much by Prof. Mawuse Dake, who
took this matter up for Rawlings to
revise his notes and increase the
allocation from GH₵11 million to GH₵96 million. If the Minority at the time had not been insistent, that
would not have happened.
Mr Speaker, the situation now is
that the Minister should listen to the
issues that have been raised and
possibly factor the concerns of the
sea defence at Blekusu into the
Budget Statement. How would he
do that? We would plead with him
to do that.
Mr Speaker, I also agree with the
Minority Leader that the approval
that was given to the Minister for
Energy through GNPC in respect of
Aker Energy has not been properly
captured. That is not the language
that was used in the Resolution. We
would need to look at that.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Adongo is
giving me 10 per cent. I am
struggling to give him 0.1 per cent.
[Laughter] So, if he gives me 10 per
cent I believe it is a good beginning.
Mr Speaker, they said they
would do further consultation on
the issue about Agyapa Royalties
which was withdrawn by the
Minister. I am not too much aware
that those consultations have taken
place. Again, we would appeal to
the Minister if it is possible to do
something about the Agyapa
Royalties deal but he is here and I
believe he would respond to that.
Mr Speaker, for the E-Levy, I
believe we should know that it is the
cornerstone of this Budget
Statement and Economic Policy.
The Hon Isaac Adongo is asking for
roads in his backyard. Where would
we get the money to do the roads?
Should we tell his people that he
does not want their roads to be done
for them? Or is he saying that he has
enough roads in his constituency
that he does not need roads? I thank
him very much if that is his clarion
call.
Mr Speaker, I think that all of us
must own up to the fact that Ghana
is moving in the right direction and
we should all rally behind the
Minister.
As the Minister is saying, when
we had the meeting, he gave a
strong indication that in all his years
as the Minister for Finance, he has
always had the entire House, in
spite of some criticisms or some
strands contained in the Budget; he
has always had consensus about
him for the approval of the Budget.
Mr Speaker, in conclusion, I
would want to appeal that the Hon
Minister is granted space to do this
further consultation maybe, briefly,
to see what surgery he can do to the
Budget and then we will take the
votes on the policy and principle of
the Budget.
However, to conclude, I believe
the future of this country is bright in
the hands of the NPP as I see the
profuse nodding of head of Hon
Ablakwa. His head will never be
lost on a radar, and I know that the
country is in good hands whenever
the NPP is in power. It dims and
plunges into darkness, literally, into
‘dumsor' when it is in the hands of the NDC.
Mr Speaker, by what I have said,
governance is not about
propaganda, it is about facts and
figures. The facts and figures speak
for themselves. As I have always
said, I believe that Ghanaians are
very discerning and when the
harvest time dawns, they know how
to sift wheat from other produces.
They know under which Regime,
this country grows in leaps and
bounds and where their bread is
buttered.
God bless our homeland Ghana
and make the people bold and
strong, and thrive in a resilient
economy that only the NPP offers.
Thank you very much. [Hear!
