Minority will scuttle GH¢10 million 'amorphous' allocation in 2023 budget - Ablakwa warns

Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has served notice that the Minority Caucus is set to oppose an allocation of GH¢10 million contained in the 2023 budget.

According to him, the amount is on page 206 of the budget Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta presented to Parliament on November 24, and is captured as monies for 'Defence Advisory Services' for the Ministry of Defence.

In a social media post, Ablakwa likened the allocation to an amount of over GH¢240 million for the "e-Transaction Levy Services" tied to the Electronic Transactions Levy (E-Levy) which was contained in the 2022 budget.

"We have bad news for whoever is waiting in the wings to pocket the colossal amount of GH¢10million allocated at page 206 of the 2023 Budget for what has been amorphously described as “Defence Advisory Services” for the Ministry of Defence.

"It shall be decisively scuttled just as we did to the dubious GH¢241million allocation for “e-Transaction Levy Services” during last year’s 2022 Budget approval process.

"Is the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/Ofori-Atta govt not tired of their numerous dodgy schemes?" his post concluded.

The 2023 budget is still being debated in Parliament as government awaits passage of Appropriation Bill before the House rises on December 21 for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The passage of the budget is seen as a critical step to government getting financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) amid an economic crunch.

The most recent move towards achieving the bailout is the announcement of a restructuring of domestic debt instruments by government.



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