The Minority caucus in Parliament has succeeded with a private members’ motion for the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to present the Domestic Debt Restructuring Programme (DDEP) to the House for consideration.
Minority leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson disclosed that this will be made possible as parliament will be setting up a committee to probe issues relating to the DDEP and the National Cathedral Project, after the motion filed by the minority was admitted by the Speaker, Alban Bagbin. He noted that the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, will as a result, have no option than to answer some pertinent questions regarding the programme.
“Friends, I am glad to announce the Speaker has admitted two key motions from us! This means: 1. The finance minister will be forced to bring the #DDEP to parliament for consideration! 2. Parliament shall set up a committee to probe the national Cathedral.”
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson
The admission of the motion followed a Private Members’ Motion sponsored by Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson, and Deputy Minority Leader Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, among others.
Other National Democratic Congress (NDC) legislators who backed the motion include: Minority Chief Whip Kwame Governs Agbodza; Bolgatanga East MP, Dr Dominic Ayine; Krachi West, MP Helen Ntoso and North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
The motion will see a committee constituted “to conduct an inquiry into the National Cathedral of Ghana project and all related matters”. Additionally, the committee will subsequently make recommendations for the House’s consideration.
There have been mixed reactions regarding the domestic debt exchange programme implemented by government to tackle the current economic crisis and bring back macroeconomic stability with guarantee sustainable growth.
Mixed reactions to domestic debt exchange
Prior to this, Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, revealed it is unconstitutional for the President and finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to delegate the power to execute a debt restructuring programme to themselves without considering the input of the people.
The Bolgatanga Central legislator iterated that “restructuring the debt of this country is too big for one person” to undertake without taking the opinions of the people who will bear the brunt of such endeavor, further expressing the need for it to be brought to Parliament for approval.
Mr Adongo explained that the President doesn’t have the power to take some decisions without the approval of Parliament because the mandate of the people resides in Parliament. As such, the President and the finance minister needed to come to Parliament to seek approval.
He emphasized that without this, there will be long-standing implications on the sovereignty of Ghana.
Elsewhere, Tamale North legislator, Alhassan Suhuyini, called for a national debt forum to address the country’s debt challenge. He indicated that it is obvious from the opposition it has generated, that the Debt Exchange Programme is not the best way out of the current level of indebtedness of the country.
Mr. Suhuyini therefore suggested the hosting of a forum “where you have all the stakeholders sitting together to have a conversation, where it is frank, where you all know what you have to give and take and especially, where the government leads the way in shaving its hair”.
It will be recalled that Mr Ofori-Atta in February this year, appeared before Parliament to brief the House on the domestic debt exchange programme. The move was necessitated when the Minority Caucus demanded policy details on the DDEP as a result of the picketing of pensioners at the Ministry of Finance, demanding exemption from the programme.
The finance minister revealed that the programme, not executed, would have brought “grave disorder” in the country’s ability to service its ballooning national debt and further exacerbated the current economic crisis.
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