The Parliamentary Minority has issued a warning, stating that it will once more oppose today’s approval of the 2024 budget statement.
Speaking to reporters, Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson stated that the 2024 budget was still up in the air and that today would see another defeat in its approval.
Speaking on behalf of the majority, Speaker of the House Alban Bagbin announced that the economic policy and budget statement that Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta had brought to the house on Wednesday had been approved.
The Majority caucus was forced to stage a walkout during the approval process when the Minority chose to conduct a headcount instead.
Speaking to reporters following the Majority’s walkout, the Finance Minister stated, “At the end of the day, the Speaker put it to vote twice, and he declared that the ‘ayes’ have it. That means the budget, in my view, has been passed. Later, there was a challenge, which has not been resolved. So far as I know and believe, we have the 2024 budget passed until such time that they resolve whatever they want to resolve.”
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader, was incensed about the Speaker’s actions and made the following observation: You were all there; you heard the Speaker loud and clear. Why should a Speaker beat such a hasty retreat from what he has said? In this case, he said the ‘ayes’ have it. Then you have the Speaker making a sudden U-turn that he didn’t add that the ‘ayes’ have it. He just expressed an opinion. And that’s most unfortunate. So, we think that the proper thing should be done.”
“We agreed to the headcount; what was he waiting for? For about 30 minutes, he was not doing anything. What kind of attitude is this? That is why we left the chamber. Five MPs of the Minority were not here, so all that he was doing was to buy more time to enable them to find a way into the chamber.”
On November 15, 2023, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta gave a presentation of the 2024 budget policy document in Parliament.
