Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu
MAJORITY LEADER, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has stated that government borrowing is lower than the stock of borrowing between the period of 2009 and 2017 when the NDC was in government, asking Ghanaians not to allow any pretenders to deceive them.
He said it is untrue that the current government has been on borrowing spree, intimating, “The facts will tell the stories better.
“You borrowed in dollars; you borrow in foreign currency and it is obvious that any analytical person will observe that between 2009 and 2017 the amount or stock of borrowing is far huger, in dollar terms, than now,” the Majority Leader said on the floor of Parliament yesterday.
Responding to the Minority NDC’s claims that Ghana is currently wallowing in debt threshold not found under the Fourth Republic, Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stated, “Don’t let any pretenders deceive you. The stock of borrowing was $75 billion as compared to what we have now. The facts will come out.”
Minority Claims
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, had, among others, accused the government and the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta of being on a borrowing spree but running away from accountability.
According to him, the Finance Minister is reneging on his duty to account for $19.7 billion COVID-19 funds approved for the ministry by Parliament, while calling on the House to stand down all matters related to the Ministry of Finance until Mr. Ofori-Atta comes in person to do so.
“This is the first time in our constitutional democratic dispensation under the Fourth Republic a minister and the government are running away from the function of accountability,” he insisted.
Rebuttal
But in a quick rebuttal, the Majority Leader said many of the things said about the government relating to stock of borrowing and lack of accountability are only street gossip.
“Mr. Speaker, this is a House that is concerned with serious business – facts and figures – not street gossip on radio stations,” he posited and added that the Finance Minister was not running away from accountability as was being suggested.
“I agree that Parliament must insist on its oversight responsibility. So if anybody raises the issue of the minister having to come before this House to account for the expenditures, that can only be right. That is the business of Parliament.
“But the Finance Minister is not running away from accountability. Let nobody rush to that conclusion,” he underscored, adding that Mr. Ofori-Atta He is aware of his responsibilities and responds to them accordingly.
Explanation
“He said to me that he needed to go and read and do some other consultations on what he had read so that it would be in sync with the responses that people had given [on his behalf].
“We don’t expect the Finance Minister to see the responses first time [in Parliament] and indeed what was even untoward was that even before he could see the responses, apparently they had been brought to Parliament,” Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu pointed out.
“He should see them first, read them, and appreciate what the technical people have brought and if there are any other matters to be added on, he will do so before he comes to this House to be able to give a comprehensive response,” he stated.
Speaker
Meanwhile, Speaker Alban Bagbin has directed that until the minister comes to the House to account for the COVID-19 expenses, a motion that requested the approval of the House for more monies to be given to his ministry for the purpose of COVID-19 would be on hold.
BY Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House