PARLIAMENT YESTERDAY approved the 2023 annual budget estimates of various ministries as part of the process towards the preparation of an Act (Appropriation Act 2023) to provide for the withdrawal of sums of money necessary to meet Government expenditure for the 2023 financial year, from the Consolidated Fund and other public funds, and for related matters.
The ministries include the Local, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Lands and Natural Resources, Food and Agriculture, Interior, and Defence, among others.
These budget estimates contain programmes and projects that the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are seeking to undertake in the ensuing year within their mandate and aligned to the national policy direction of the Government.
The estimates also spell out costs associated with each programme by their economic classifications.
The adoption of the motions of the 2023 Annual Budget Estimates comes after the approval of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government which was presented to the House on November 24, 2022 by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
On Tuesday, December 6, 2022, the House approved the national budget for the 2023 financial year seeking to raise a total of GH¢143,956 million through taxes and grants for spending by the government without controversy.
The House approved a sum of GH¢2,074,323,448 for the Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development Ministry, GH¢5,619,566,342 for the Interior Ministry, GH¢3,742,913,487 for the Defence Ministry, GH¢1,350,964,580 for the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry, and GH¢2,153,234,369 for the Food and Agriculture Ministry.
Interior Programme
The Ministry of Interior and its departments and agencies plan to undertake various activities, noting that in the coming year, the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons will undertake marking of police weapons to ensure that the remaining 10% of unmarked weapons are marked.
“It will also continue with the collection and destruction of weapons,” a report of the Parliament Committee on Defence and Interior noted.
It added that Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) would continue its fire prevention education programmes throughout the nation, and undertake renovation and maintenance of fire stations and other fire installations.
In 2023, the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) also will process and issue visas, including entry, transit, and reentry visas; work, residence, and indefinite permits; digitise embarkation and disembarkation cards, and investigate and prosecute persons who flout immigration laws and regulations, the report read in part.
For the Ghana Refugee Board (GRB), it seeks to continue its education of refugees and the general public on how to relate well with each other. It would also undertake camp and border monitoring and conduct voluntary repatriation exercises.
“The final draft scheme of service which has been handed over to the Public Service Commission is expected to be approved,” the report indicated.
It revealed that a five-day training for defensive driving would be conducted for all GRB drivers, adding that the Board also intends to conduct three joint monitoring missions in the various camps together with the UNHCR (GRB & UNHCR).
“Three stakeholders’ meetings will be organised for collaborating Government agencies in refugee-hosting districts,” it said.
BY Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House