When Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta presented the 2024 budget on Wednesday, November 15, 2023, the customary drama that accompanies annual budget presentations in parliament was replayed.
The two-hour presentation was unusually tainted by heckling from the legislature’s minority party, which expressed disagreement with certain aspects of the budget statement.
The House of Parliament was inundated with pre-composed songs intended to minimize the budget statement immediately following the presentation, and speaker Alban Bagbin struggled to restore order. He had no choice but to threaten lawmakers who disobey the standing orders with the whip.
As the minority MPs chant “bye bye,” Ofori-Atta, dressed in his customary white kaftan, is seated alongside Osei Kye-Mensah-Bonsua, the leader of the majority, and Alexander Afenyo-Markin, his deputy. He is facing the minority side directly and has his head bowed.
#GhBudget: A clearly unimpressed Minority were earlier today chanting “bye-bye” at the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and to the Majority side of Parliament.
Some NDC MPs could also be seen holding posters, with inscriptions suggesting this was the NPP Government’s final… pic.twitter.com/T3DWFHl7Kp
— CITI FM 97.3 (@Citi973) November 15, 2023
The National Democratic Congress Members claim that the budget has actually heralded the nation’s impending doom rather than offering hope. They contend that although the government of the New Patriotic Party and the finance minister inherited a robust and expanding economy, they are leaving behind a dead one.
Afenyo-Markin, meanwhile, dismissed the minority’s accusations, asserting that the current administration has managed the economy more skillfully than the previous Mahama-led NDC had.
The majority side of the house has signaled its readiness to take on their minority counterparts who have threatened a “showdown,” and a formal budget debate is anticipated to take place in the coming days.
