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Parliament of Ghana has today adopted the modifications in the 2022 budget which has been effected by the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta in today’s sitting.
Contributing to the modification, the deputy majority leader , Alexander Afenyo Markin said, the finance minister has listened to the concerns raised by the minority side of Parliament and has addressed them accordingly.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, made some changes to the 2022 Agyenkwa budget after the tug-of-war between the majority caucus and the minority caucus which resulted in the one-sided minority rejecting the budget on November 26, 2021 only for the majority to later overturn Speaker Alban Bagbin’s ruling to approve the budget on November 30, 2021.
Some of the changes effected by Ken Ofori-Atta on the budget include the revision of the Aker Energy-AGM Petroleum- GNPC deal and allocation of GHS 10 million for feasibility studies on the Keta sea defence project which was not previously captured in the budget statement.
Speaking on the floor of parliament, Mr. Afenyo Markin stated that “the beauty of democracy is to agree and disagree and for the records at least he concedes that the minister has listened to all the concerns raised by the minority side…the Ketu South, Keta Anlo enclave, the issue of tidal waves and the desire of the people to get that infrastructure done to save lives and property. At least he has committed himself to this and I think it is a good news for the people in the area”.
Addressing the minority side, Mr. Afenyo Markin stated that though they may be emotional and be at each others throat at times but in the final analysis, what counts is their interest in working for the country.
Regarding the e-levy he said that the majority respects the views of the minority thus the finance minister has hinted of two key things – he has assured of continuous consultations and engagements with relevant stakeholders and again what matters is how the e-levy will be applied.
On his part, the minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu, noted that, the e-levy is punitive to the Ghanaian populace hence would reject it in any form at any level.
The leader of the minority rather suggested that monies recoverable from the Auditor General’s report be used as replacement for the imposition of a burdensome e-levy.
He said that “Mr. Speaker, it is true that we engaged. We were part of the engagement, but at that engagement, regrettably and unfortunately, on the matter of e-levy we could not have agreement and consensus. We believe that the e-levy is punitive, and will undermine our quest to grow a digital economy in seeking to tax transactions,”.
