Kobina Tahir Hammond, MP for Adansi-Asokwa, has indicated that the 2022 Budget would be passed on Tuesday, after being rejected by the Minority on November 26.
Speaking to the press, the politician said that everything is in place for the ‘Agyenkwa’ Budget to be approved and that the ‘action is set to begin in some few minutes.
“This time watch my lips; action in 45 minutes, here on the floor of Parliament”, he told JoyNews parliamentary correspondent, Kwesi Parker-Wilson.
Earlier in the day, the Finance Minister was reported to have attended a joint caucus meeting of the Majority and Minority caucuses in order to obtain an agreement on the ratification of the 2022 Budget Estimates and Economic Policy.
The meeting was called in response to the events of Friday, November 26, when Parliament rejected the 2022 Budget after a series of heated discussions between members of the Minority and Majority Caucuses.
Infuriated by the course of events, the Majority, headed by Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, staged a walkout, accusing the Speaker, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, of ‘bias’ and ‘disrespect.’
The proceedings, however, went uninterrupted, and the Minority, with 137 of its members present and voting, threw out the Budget. The Majority then responded, calling the Minority’s action ‘unconstitutional.’
However, in a statement issued on November 28 by Minority Leader Haruna Iddirisu, the Minority denied the charges of unconstitutionality, labeling their colleagues in the Majority as “irresponsible” and encouraging them to accept the rejection of the 2022 Budget in good faith.
“The Minority wishes to strongly advise the Majority Leader and Government to accept defeat, acknowledge the rejection of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy by Parliament and focus on discussions on how to save the country from an imminent economic crisis”, the statement said.
After expressing concerns about the behavior of the Majority MPs, the Minority demanded that the government make specific changes to the 2022 Budget before it would endorse it.
The Minority wants the administration to cancel the Agyapa deal as part of the adjustments it demands, as well as to suspend the planned 1.75 percent e-levy. The Minority has also urged for the appropriate rebuilding of paragraph 829 of the Aker Energy deal, which relates to GNPC’s purchase of a share from Aker Energy and AGM Petroleum.
In addition, the Minority asks the government to reassess the import benchmark value and plan for the Keta tidal wave calamity.
According to the Minority, without them, the Budget for 2022 would not be approved.
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SOURCE: myjoyonline
