Parliament needs ample time to scrutinise budget estimates - MPs

Accra (Greater Accra) 28 May '99

Parliament has underscored the need for members to have ample time to study budget estimates before they are finally brought to the house for approval.

Members on both sides contended on Thursday that this will help inject greater efficiency in the preparation and execution of the estimates.

Making a statement on the floor of the house on the procedures for consideration and approval of estimates of government revenues and expenditures, Mr Kosi Kedem, NDC-Hohoe South, said Members of Parliament (MPS) have realised that many a time, budgets presented by the various Ministries,

Departments and Agencies (MDAs) do not reflect all the priorities of the country.

Members, Mr Kedem said, sometimes feel that certain areas should be given more allocations than they have been given, and that others have been allocated much more money than they deserve.

Sometimes estimates are either discovered to be just routine repetition of the previous year's, or that there are inconsistencies in the figures provided, he said.

It is for this reason that a considerable period needs to be given to members to enable them to critically analyse budget estimates. That way, they will have a greater say in determining how public funds are raised, allocated or spent, Mr Kedem said.

Mr Kedem criticised as unsatisfactory the procedure whereby members have to urge the government to present a supplementary estimate, when, for instance, the house realises that the amount of money appropriated by the Appropriation Act for any purpose is found to be insufficient.

He pointed out that apart from being unsatisfactory, the procedure does not allow for flexibility and efficiency in budgeting, and therefore urged Parliament to re-consider its procedure for considering budgets in order to ensure greater efficiency, transparency, maximum utilisation of resources, more efficient resource allocation, greater innovation and accountability.

He said what members want is for Parliament to have a greater say and play a larger role in the manner in which public funds are raised and utilised.

Mr Kedem expressed concern about the present system of considering and approving budgets, and said it leaves much to be desired, because "it is fraught with many unintended shortcomings and lapses detrimental to the economy of Ghana."

He cited as an example the case in 1996 when the Select Committee on Education decided for once to be more critical in examining the estimates for the Ministry of Education.

He said members directed a team of officials from the ministry and the Ghana Education Service to inspect all the development projects included in that year's development budget for education.

Mr Kedem said the team's report made some interesting and disturbing revelations, because out of 427 projects inspected, 56 were completed and already paid for, even though a few other completed projects had outstanding bills for settlement.

Additionally, Mr Kedem said, because a few projects were found to have wrong titles, while others did not exist at all and yet they were budgeted for, the exercise of verification carried out enabled the ministry to eliminate all ghost projects.

Mr Kedem said as a result, total savings of 784 million cedis were made and the money re-allocated to other projects. He wondered how much could have been saved for the nation if this verification exercise was carried out in all ministries.

He called for the establishment of an effective monitoring and evaluation system for the preparation and implementation of budget estimates in order to minimise waste in resource allocation and inject efficiency into the system.

Some members on both sides of the house associated themselves with the statement and were of the consensus that for Parliament to properly scrutinise budgetary allocations for the various MDAs, members should subject those estimates to real debates on the floor of the house.

Members on the majority side who supported the statement were Mr Edward Korbly Doe Adjaho, Majority Chief Whip, Commodore Steve Obimpeh (rtd), (North Dayi), Mr Nicholas Appiah-Kubi, (Jaman), Alhaji Amadu Seidu (Yapei/Kusawgu) and deputy minister of Works and Housing, and Mr Thomas Kwame Yeboah (Dormaa West).

Those in the minority group included Mr Joseph Henry Mensah, Leader, Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo, Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji Collins Dauda (Asutifi South), Papa Owusu Ankomah (Sekondi), Mr Charles Omar Nyanor (Upper Denkyira), and Mr

Kwamena Bartels (Ablekuma North), and Mr Stephen Kwaku Balado Manu (Ahafo Ano South).

Dr. Kwabena Adjei, Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, announced that a committee to consider budget estimates of MDAs will soon be set up.

Mr Kenneth Dzirasah, First Deputy Speaker who was in the chair, said by making good use of members' suggestions, the committee will live up to expectation.