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ACEPA warns of possible government shutdown
Parliament to reconvene on Tuesday November 30, 2021
The Minority caucus has outlined what it expects to happen at the highly anticipated parliamentary sitting tomorrow Tuesday, November 30, 2021.
In a social media post, Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram who is also a member of the minority, Sam Nartey George, indicated that his side expects the majority to enter an application to spend on account or present a new budget that captures their demands.
“Tomorrow [Tuesday November 30, 2021], Parliament would continue its business as usual as we await either an application to spend on account or notice of a new budget that adequately addresses the issues we raised,” he said in a tweet on Monday, November 29, 2021.
The Minority in a statement have tabled five demands that they would not compromise on in the 2022 budget statement.
They want the e-levy scrapped together with the Agyapa deal struck out of the earlier budget presented.
Additionally, they want government to make budgetary allocations for the phase 2 of the Blekusu Coastal Protection Project and also amend paragraph 829 of the Aker Energy deal relating to GNPC’s acquisition of stakes from Aker Energy and AGM Petroleum.
Lastly, the minority says it will not support the budget statement unless the government reviews the benchmark value for imports.
Meanwhile, the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs, (ACEPA) is urging both the majority and minority to immediately begin engagements to have the 2022 budget statement approved.
Executive Director of ACEPA, Dr. Rasheed Draman, warns of dire implications of the divided stance on the rejected budget statement.
“So whatever it is, I will like to see at the end of the day both sides taking a step into the middle and making sure that there’s some giving and some taking. The NDC can continue to push forward these demands but there’s a limit.
“If it is not careful and we get into the arena of the government shutting down, people are going to turn around and start blaming the NDC for their plight. So their efforts at holding the government into account can have the opposite effect, of if you like, endearing them to the Ghanaian electorates for us to see them a credible government in waiting.
“So there’s a limit to how much they can push in terms of their demands. They must be ready to give up some of the demands” he said in an interview on Joy News and monitored by GhanaWeb.
