He said with the increase in terrorism and a general security threat across the globe, the practice where the defence is starved of what it has been allocated by the House does not bode well for the safety and security of the country.

“My checks from the Defence Ministry and the Controller and Accountant-General Department clearly indicated to me that the security agencies are one of the priority areas of the government but this is not what is reflected in the performance of 2022,” he said.

The Speaker made this call at the consideration of the GH¢3.742 billion budget for the ministry in Parliament in Accra yesterday in support of a revelation by South Dayi Member, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, that only GH¢89 million of the GH¢141 million capital expenditure approved for the ministry has been released as at September.

“It is sad when I read and saw that approximately 81 per cent of the budget on goods and services have not been released to the Ministry of Defence.

“In this current situation, how do you expect them to operate and I agree totally with Honourable Dafeamekpor that it is not for this House to continue appealing to the Ministry of Finance to release approved budgets,” he said.

Speaker Bagbin added: “We are in charge, we legislate and pass the laws on taxation and Ministry of Finance are to implement; if they are failing to do it, we have to take them on and not to be appealing to them.

“I cannot understand this particularly how the Defence Ministry and sister ministers are struggling with the safety of the Ghanaian and we know what is happening in the sub-region.

“I think that we should take this as the last occasion where we tolerate it from the Ministry of Finance; we do not want to have this repeated again.”

Describing the development as “a very serious matter”, Mr Dafeamekpor said budgets of the security services needed to be treated differently and that Parliament must not be appealing to the finance ministry to be release funds approved by the House.

“Year in and year out, we stand on the floor and say that we are pleading with the Ministry of Finance. We should stop pleading and demand. Mr Speaker, when they collect the tax, they use the law to do so and they come here to make allocation and we give approval, we should not be pleading with the MoF to release money.

“How do you expect the army to work well if what they require in 2022 you cannot release all to them?” Mr Dafeamekpor asked and entreated the finance ministry to be proactive towards the security agencies.

The House meanwhile approved the budget estimates for the ministries of Lands and Natural Resources, GH¢1,350,964,580, Food and Agriculture, GH¢2,153,234,369, Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, GH¢2,074,323,448 and Information GH¢141,464,328.

Source: ghanaiantimes

Mr. Kumah was one of the 39 persons nominated by the President, Nana Addo Akufo-Addo, to serve as deputy ministers in his second term.

The Deputy Finance Minister-designate, on Citi TV‘s Point of View, expressed his appreciation to the President for his nomination, promising to deliver on his mandate if approved.

“I must say that I want to thank His Excellency the President for this opportunity to serve. I did an MBA in Finance before I started Law. Finance is something that I am very comfortable with and I will be able to handle any task that is assigned to me. A lawyer can undertake any task. Nothing is beyond execution. I believe that I will be able to work to support the vision of Nana Addo,” he said.

Born in 1978 at Ejisu in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, 42-year-old John Ampontuah Kumah is described by his constituents as a man of integrity with a focus on job creation, who inspires hope for the future in both young and old.

As a loyal member of the NPP, he has worked for the party from the grassroots since 1992. He is the founding father of the Young Patriots, a youth group within the NPP. He is also a member of the governing party’s communications team.

He is currently the Vice Chairman of the Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of the 8th Parliament.

He believes he might be replaced on the Committee if approved as Deputy Minister.

“Parliament can always reassign your role. I believe they may assign a different person.”

Speaking in an interview on TV3, Mr Kojo Poku said “The Ministry of Finance is the biggest problem in this energy sector but everybody keeps going to the Ministry of Energy. The Mines and Energy Committee I am surprised that they are asking the energy ministry.

“Three years ago the Ministry of Energy had a team that did the renegotiations, when they sent the report to the Ministry of Finance to sign off, the Ministry of Finance refused to sign off on it.

“They constituted another Committee led by Deputy Minister Charles Adu Boahen and as I speak today we have not gotten to the conclusion of the exercise. So it is a problem where the technical people will do one thing and the Ministry of Finance will do another thing.”

His comment comes at the back of recent intermittent power outages, sparking fears in many Ghanaians that the country may be headed towards the dreaded days of unstable power supply popularly known as ‘dumsor.’

GRIDCo, which is Ghana’s power transmitted have in various forums said the challenges are technical and that the country will not experience ‘dumsor’.

GRIDCo said some of its transmission lines are faulty and for scheduled maintenance works to be done, some areas will need to have their power disconnected.

The power transmission company also in a statement issued on Wednesday, March 31, 2021, called for calm saying, it has no intention of publishing a power rationing timetable.

It said the planned works are not going to be nationwide as being speculated.

“Recent media engagements by GRIDCo, about ongoing projects in the power sector, appear to have heightened perceptions of impending nationwide power cuts. GRIDCo wishes to assure the public that it has no intention of embarking on a nationwide load shedding programme,” the company noted.

The company, however, assured Ghanaians of a stable power supply during this stipulated time period.

“GRIDCo is working with ECG, MiDA, and other stakeholders to ensure minimum impact on customers in the affected areas.

GRIDCo is assuring all Ghanaians that there is a concerted effort by all stakeholders, led by the Energy Ministry, to ensure a consistent, accessible and reliable power supply at all times,” it added.

Contrary to claims that the 62-year-old had passed on, The Thunder Gh News sources within the Finance Ministry say “Honourable Minister-designate’s Delta 157 flight has landed [in the US]. He’s in good spirits. He sends his regards”.

The Finance Minister-designate is expected to be away for two weeks. 

He was scheduled to appear before the Appointments Committee on February 18, 2021, for his vetting.

He was expected to be questioned on Ghana’s increasing debt stock, the controversial state of the Agyapa royalties deal among other issues pertaining to the Finance Ministry.

The Finance Ministry has said Parliament has been duly notified of the latest development.

Mr. Ofori-Atta left for the US on Sunday, February 14, 2021, on orders of his personal doctors.

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