President Akufo-Addo and Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin
President Akufo-Addo has responded to the Speaker of Parliament’s rejection of the government’s proposed estimates of expenditure for Parliament and the Parliamentary Service, insisting that his government cannot accommodate the GH¢583,486,685 request made by the House.
Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin had stated that the provisions of the constitution required the President to lay the estimates of Parliament and the Judiciary before Parliament “without revision” and said he was unable to accept the letters and communication from the presidency that sought to revise estimates of expenditure of Parliament.
But President Akufo-Addo, in a response in a letter read at plenary yesterday by the Speaker himself, indicated that the Akufo-Addo government could accommodate GH¢523,639,774 instead of GH¢583,486,685 submitted by Parliament and the Parliamentary Service.
“In view of the reduced physical space in the national budget as a result of statutory and debt service obligations, the government cannot accommodate the request of Parliament,” the Speaker quoted the President’s letter.
He told the House that the total amount was made up of a compensation of GH¢201,112,086, goods and service of GH¢205,027,688, administrative and operational expenses of GH¢406,139,774, capital expenditure (CAPEX) of GH¢117,500,000.
Mr. Bagbin noted that the President agreed to all the estimates of Parliament and the Parliamentary Service apart from the GH¢177,346,911 CAPEX estimate submitted by Parliament.
“Government recommends that Parliament and the Parliamentary Service operate within the proposed budget, while the government explores opportunities to increase the allocation in subsequent years when revenue improves and debt has stabilized,” he further read the communication from the President.
President Akufo-Addo accordingly requested Parliament to keep the estimates of Parliament within “the expenditure ceiling proposed to enable the government to contain expenditures within the overall fiscal space for 2021.”
“I will be grateful if you could cause the above estimates and recommendations by the government to be laid before Parliament,” the Speaker read.
Bagbin ‘Rejection’
Last week, the Speaker said he rejected recommendations of the government’s proposed estimates of expenditure for Parliament and the Parliamentary Service.
He had said that the provisions of the constitution required the President to lay the estimates of Parliament and the Judiciary before Parliament “without revision” to the estimates, but with “recommendations that the President may make on them.”
“Respectfully, as Speaker of Parliament, I am unable to accept the letters and communicate the same to the Honourable House,” he read his response to the letter from the presidency and added that the wording and import of the letters from the presidency did not communicate a recommendation as stipulated by Article 127 and 179 of the 1992 Constitution and section 15(8) of the Parliamentary Service Act, 1993 (Act 460).
He then insisted that the letters communicated “an imperative to Parliament to keep within the expenditure estimates which have been set by the government.
“Indeed, the provisions of the constitution require the President to lay the estimates of Parliament and the Judiciary before Parliament ‘without revision’ to the estimates, but with recommendations that the President may make on them.”
The Speaker said he noted, however, that in the budget statement and the expenditure estimates made on Friday, March 12, 2021, the “recommendations” of the President were laid instead of the original estimate that was submitted by Parliament and the Judiciary.
Recommendation for Parliament
He revealed further that the presidency reduced Parliament’s expenditure estimates by GH¢119,846,911, and continued that the explanation given by the executive was that “in view of the review fiscal space in the national budget as a result of the statutory and debt service obligations, we cannot accommodate the request by Parliament.”
According to him, the letter which was authored by the Executive Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, suggested for Parliament and the Parliamentary Service to operate within the reduced budget estimates, while the executive worked to “explore opportunities to increase the allocation in subsequent years when revenues improve and debt stabilised.”
“Accordingly, Parliament is respectfully requested to keep the estimates of the Parliament and the Parliamentary Services with the expenditure estimates provided above.
“This will enable the government to contain expenditures in the overall fiscal space for 2021. It should however be noted that the ceiling provided for Parliament and the Parliamentary Service satisfies section 15 (a) of the Parliamentary Service Act,” he read the letter from the presidency.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House