Ranking Member of the Finance Committee in Parliament, Isaac Adongo has levelled serious allegations against the Office of the President for what he describes as imprudent and irresponsible financial conduct.
His comment follows the approval of a GH₵2 billion budget for the presidential office for the year 2024.
Mr. Adongo points to multiple instances where departments within the President’s Office, including the Chief of Staff’s office, the Press Office, and the Cabinet Secretariat, reportedly expended funds beyond their budgetary allocations.
The finance committee’s findings have prompted Mr. Adongo to challenge the source of the additional funds utilized by these offices.
In a call for fiscal discipline, Mr. Adongo is pressing the Office of the President to exhibit restraint and set an example by adhering strictly to their budget, thereby avoiding any excess in expenditure.
Speaking on the floor of parliament on Thursday, December 21, Mr. Adongo indicated that certain units under the Office of the President such as the Chief of Staff Secretariat and the Cabinet Secretariat as of September 2023 have exceeded their allocated budget by a significant margin.
“And we need to get to the bottom of how that office can make the money to spend when it has not even been released,” he stressed.
The Ranking Member of the Finance Committee in Parliament said this act of the office of the president of engaging in budget overspending its allocated budget has a dire consequence on the Public Financial Management Act.
Mr. Adongo expressed his concern and questioned why the office has failed to submit its budget performance report to Parliament House.
He notes a lack of a budget performance report from the Office of the President, which is required by law three months after the year ends to provide insight into the financial status.
‘So, as we speak, at a minimum, we should have had a budget performance report for 2022 so that we know how we ended the year in 2022. What we do not have as we speak.’
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Source: Eric Sekyi/ATLFMNEWS
