Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has questioned why the National Democratic Congress government presented what he described as a “cut-and-paste” and “lazily prepared” national budget to Parliament.
According to him, the 2025 budget, presented by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, lacked proper scrutiny and merely recycled old initiatives without providing a clear policy direction for the country.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on December 2, the Minority Leader stressed on the importance of thorough budget preparation and the need to be receptive to feedback.
“During the comments in this budget the minority raised this serious issue of cut and paste budget,” he said.
He insisted that the government was pushing Parliament to approve the budget which he says had not been properly reviewed.
“It appears this budget was never scrutinized. And we’re being called upon, approve, approve,” he added.
Providing an example, the Minority Leader questioned government’s claim of rapidly settling payments under the ‘Big Push’ initiative.
“You launched Big push, you say you’ve made payments to contractors under Big push in less than a month,” he stated.
Afenyo-Markin maintained that such inconsistencies show that the document was not carefully prepared.
“This can be nothing less than a very lazily prepared budget. You’re just putting out the numbers. You don’t do any due diligence,” he said.
He further reminded the Majority that Minority’s scrutiny strengthens governance, insisting the government must be more open to criticism.
“We’ve told you time without number, that your work, your governance and its success will largely depend on the scrutiny that will come from this side. It’s the reason why we want you to be a bit more tolerant. Because your 189 did not even spot this,” he argued.
The Minority has raised several concerns about the budget, accusing the Mahama administration of submitting a document that fails to address fiscal discipline, clarity of expenditure, and long-term economic planning.
