Dr. Gideon Boako
The standard of governance being a continuum continues to be lost to some governments when they are at the helm.
It does not speak well about the honesty of those at the helm today when they dismiss the building blocks arranged by their predecessors and upon which they are continuing the construction as it were of the country.
The year 2024 and even before it, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) then at the helm swallowed the bitter pill of stabilising the economy following the cataclysmic global fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For many months, the cost of utilities were borne by the government, and workers who had to stay at home as part of the general social distancing protocol received their remunerations intact. These exacted serious toll on the national kitty. Although the then opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) acknowledged the realities of the situation when their leaders spoke at international forums, at home they rejected the fact that Ghana as part of the global village should suffer the effects of COVID-19.
Necessary measures had to be taken at the end of the pandemic to steady the economy; these provided unfair fodder for the campaign of the NDC during the campaign season.
The budget statement of 2026, although has many deficiencies as noted by the Minority In Parliament, it nonetheless showed the dividends occasioned by the bitter yet necessary measures embarked upon by the last NPP government.
It is ridiculous if not dishonest when those at the helm seek to create the erroneous impression that their predecessors only mismanaged the economy. These they know not to be true yet peddle with reckless abandon. Occasionally, some members of the government are unable to withhold the credit due their predecessors, as they spill these out during public discourses.
The Vice President must be commended for saying it as it is when she recently alluded to the measures adopted by their predecessors which set the country on a path of economic growth today.
When the NPP too comes to power in future, they must do well to acknowledge the blocks their predecessors contributed towards the construction of Mother Ghana.
Let us not allow politics to be all about running down our opponents. These gains are short-lived and would fade away with truth standing prominent and unwavering.
Truth shall earn us deserving respect. As pointed out by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North, Dr. Gideon Boako during his contribution to the debate on the 2026 budget, there are misleading figures in the statement as presented by the Finance Minister to Parliament and for that matter to the good people of this country.
That the Minister would for instance claim that government had spent GH¢63 billion on its flagship infrastructural project, ‘The Big Push’, when the figure is lower as Dr. Boako said, is something which beats imagination.
Budget statements are such serious fiscal documents that they should be nowhere close to fallacies.
When the public begin to question the authenticity of statements and remarks from government, we are confronted with a waning public confidence in the nation’s leadership.
Some ministries are subtly frustrated over budgetary allocations not meeting their expectations; the figures presented to the public are at variance with the reality. When the integrity of government cannot be vouched for, we have cause to be worried.