Source: newsthemegh.com
The Minority in Parliament has debunked assertions made by some Majority members that the recent approval of loans by the House was a consensus choice.
The Minority group argues that it opposed the loans and showed its opposition while there was a debate on the House floor.
On Tuesday, May 2, 2023, the parliament gave its approval to a budget of $150 million for the second phase of the multi-phase thematic West African Food System Resilience Programme.
A loan arrangement between the government and the Development Bank Ghana for a sum of £170 million euros was also approved by the House to facilitate the creation of a financially sound development bank.
It also authorized a credit arrangement for $200 million between the Ghanaian government and the World Bank to fund the Ghana Digital Acceleration Project.
Paul Twum Barimah, a member of parliament for Dormaa East and a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), asserted that the Minority had backed the House’s acceptance of the loan agreements on that particular day.
As far as we know, we all favor the loans, he stated. Did you notice anyone getting up to question the loans because it was a voice vote? No one did it, not even their leadership or any of their members, and the report was unanimous, as you can see.
The Minority Chief Whip and MP for Adaklu, Governor Kwame Agbodza, sharply refuted the assertion, branding the remarks made by his Majority-side colleague as untrue and dishonest.
He claimed that the minority was adamantly opposed to the loans since they were being made at a time when the country was having trouble getting an IMF program because of its excessive debt load and had fallen behind on both its internal and external debt payments.
He claimed that while the Minority members did take turns opposing the proposal, they remain steadfast in their belief that only an uncaring and unpatriotic Majority Group would support any additional borrowing by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government, which has already fallen behind on debt repayment.
He said, “Our attention has been drawn to a mischievous publication by various news portals bearing the caption ‘NDC MPs Supported Approval of Recent Loans’ and attributed to the NPP MP for Dormaa East Constituency, Hon. Paul Apreku Twum-Barimah.”
The NPP MP was a member of the unpatriotic Majority group who decided to railroad these loans despite considerable resistance from us. “The Minority Caucus strongly refutes his claims and takes a serious view of such dishonest and desperate statements coming from an NPP MP,” the Minority Caucus stated.
“Let it be known that the Minority was adamantly opposed to these loans coming at a time when our country has failed to make payments on both its domestic and external debt and is struggling to secure an IMF program because of our debt overhang,” the statement reads.
“In fact, we took turns voicing our objections, and we remain steadfast in our belief that only an irresponsible and unpatriotic Majority Group will support any more borrowing by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government, which has failed to make payments on our debt. Such irresponsibility will undoubtedly be recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.
We thus urge the people of Ghana to reject any claims that the Minority participated in the approval of the most recent loans and to treat all such claims with the contempt they merit.