Ken Ofori Atta
Of course, such a wonderful budget of development and growth can only elicit scorn from the rancorous side of the political divide.
They have never wished success for their successors and as they set out to run down the budget which in spite of the indebtedness they bequeathed this government has posted a boldness hardly associated with them in their long period at the helm.
Like all good budgets, the projections and mode of expenditure of funds for the 2019 fiscal year has myriad facets. We can only do so much in our commentary of what covers everything that a nation needs to move forward in its journey of development and a bold bid to undo the bad effects of the bad governance of the previous administration.
Those who worked on the budget could not have done a better job: the strategic pillars they hinged the financial projections and expenditures on are indicators of a team with a firm grasp of their assignment.
The dearth of infrastructure in the country has been of significant worry over the years. It would appear that the excuses of previous governments of the NDC only succeeded in announcing projects which did not go anywhere.
The sincerity of governments in walking the pillars of budgets is critical. Many who are disillusioned about unfulfilled promises and contents of budgets will only yawn when such presentations are made by a finance minister. For them it is only a de ja vu. Why won’t they when the NDC governments gave them cause to be disillusioned and to lose faith in politics?
Infrastructure deficit over the years continues to disturb our development efforts consuming so much. It is no longer news to hear about foodstuff rotting away on farms and in the hinterland.
Even worse is the fact that cocoa, the mainstay of the economy for a long time suffers from this challenge because of the bad roads leading to the producing areas.
We are relieved that a government known for walking its talk has laid down plans to address this handicap whose success would translate in better ways of dealing with this handicap.
Agriculture continues to be the driving force of our economy providing employment for many Ghanaians. Indeed the potentials for this sector in addressing our unemployment problem are being exploited as in the flagship programme of ‘Planting For Food And Jobs.’
That we lag behind in modernizing agriculture is not in dispute. That is why the initiatives laid out to put agriculture on a modern footing away from the hoe and cut approach must be commended.
Ghanaian youth have not been sufficiently encouraged to go into agriculture because of the largely peasant and primitive method of the occupation in most parts of the country.
Modernising agriculture would not only ensure increased productivity; many Ghanaian youth can have cause to be associated with farming in the envisaged mode.
Six decades after independence is enough to have launched us into industrialization. Government must be supportive of the private sector to achieve this goal. Over the years we have seen various interventions; all intended as it were, to have us industrialise yet to no avail.
We can heave a sigh of relief that at last we are going to be launched into an era of industrialization genuinely and sincerely – the announced interventions glaring for all to see.
Protecting the public purse remains a Gordian knot. Corruption is almost a mantra in the country – politicians loving to use it to embellish their presentations and to show how committed they are in winning the war against graft.
So much goes into private pockets when efforts are made to address the many deficiencies facing us as a nation. Inflating costs of contracts as a means of fleecing the state has become a norm and the amount of money so taken away from the public kitty is so huge that it can tackle many challenges of the nation.
The budgetary allocation to the Office of the Special Prosecutor is a pragmatic way of announcing the war against corruption. The journey has begun. There is no turning back.