Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has disclosed that variations of haircuts are being implemented in multiple sectors across the country.
According to him, unlike in the 2022 Budget which had a special allocation of GHC1 billion for YouStart, the 2023 Budget has absolutely no allocation for YouStart, which is a flagship policy intervention the Akufo-Addo administration had presented as the solution to youth unemployment from 2022 to 2025.
Mr Ablakwa indicated that for the first time since President Akufo-Addo announced Agenda 111, the 2023 Budget has no allocation for the President’s major hospital expansion programme. In the 2022 Budget, he noted that GHC518 million was allocated then but not this time around.
“Variations of haircuts are happening in many more places than we have cared to look… The much talked about Zongo Development Fund is nearing collapse as the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/Ofori-Atta government drastically cuts by over 80% its allocation from GHC154.2 million in 2022 to a paltry GHC24.4 million.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Mr Ablakwa listing the number of sectors affected by government’s haircut programme explained that folks in coastal communities would equally be disappointed to discover that despite their demands for increased expenditure on Fish Landing Sites, the government has cut their allocation from GHC77.2 million in 2022 to a measly GHC26.3 million.
Impact of government’s haircuts on sectors
Additionally, Mr Ablakwa emphasized that struggling traders and other small business owners who were looking up to MASLOC for salvation in this period of economic crisis would also be upset to find out that allocation to MASLOC has been slashed from GHC50 million in 2022 to a depressing GHC14.4 million.
“So, it’s quite clearly a festival of haircuts across multiple sectors, except President Akufo-Addo’s Office of Government Machinery where they can afford to employ an additional 1,570 despite a freeze for other sectors, and except government’s Contingency Vote which has seen a massive increase from GHC993 million in 2022 to GHC1.4 billion in 2023.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Commenting on NaBCo, the North Tongu legislator expressed that the beneficiaries will be certainly devastated to discover that no provision has been made in the 2023 Budget to cater for their longstanding arrears. This, he stated, is “most cruel” considering that they are owed allowances for 9 to 11 months.
Prior to this, Mr Ablakwa lamented what he described as the “most unconscionable and unpardonably reckless” in this period of economic crisis, austerity, haircuts and total freeze in public sector jobs for the government to massively increase allocation to the Contingency Vote from GHC993 million in 2022 to a mind-boggling GHC1.4 billion.
He highlighted that one would have expected that at a time government is appealing to Ghanaians to burden share, the Contingency Vote allocation would be sharply declining and not witnessing a hefty addition in excess of GHC400 million.
Mr Ablakwa revealed that Ghanaians are exposed to the “bizarre revelations” by finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, during proceedings at his Vote of Censure Committee that the Contingency Vote had become the “conduit for sleazy diversions”.
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