The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has criticised the government for engaging in wasteful expenditure, despite its campaign promises to maintain a lean government and ensure prudent use of state funds.
The party stressed that the government has failed woefully on its promises, as it has allocated GH¢3.8 billion to the Office of Government Machinery, with GH¢2.7 billion of the amount being designated solely for staff remuneration.
At a press conference in Accra yesterday, in response to President John Mahama’s account of his 120 days in office, the Minority Leader, Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin, urged the government to honour its commitments and eliminate wasteful spending.
Mr Afenyo-Markin stated that the reduction in the number of ministers was merely a distraction from the unchecked expansion of the executive branch.
He alleged that the government machinery was using state funds to reward party loyalists, describing the act as “turning a reduction in ministerial appointments into an opportunity for cronyism”.
The Minority Leader also stated that: “the reality is that the supposed reduction in ministerial positions has had little to no effect on the growing costs of government. If this administration were truly serious about austerity, then why was a staggering GH¢3.8 billion allocated to the Office of Government Machinery alone? Of that amount, an astonishing GH¢2.7 billion has been set aside just for staff remuneration.”
Mr Afenyo-Markin said that instead of the government focusing on the mandate Ghanaians had entrusted to them, and addressing pressing issues confronting the nation, such as unstable power, unemployment, among others, it has chosen the path of retaliatory politics and political persecution of opponents.
“Under the leadership of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the NPP government successfully kept the lights on for eight consecutive years and handed over a stable power situation. We invested significantly in the Energy sector to improve power generation capacity. Yet, within just four months, this administration has failed to sustain that legacy, plunging the nation back into darkness, “he noted.
Mr Afenyo-Markin highlighted that Small Scale Enterprises were bearing the brunt of rising operational costs due to generator use, whilst hospitals, especially those outside Accra, the nation’s capital, were struggling to maintain emergency care during outages.
“Not only is dumsor back, but Ghanaians are now paying more for electricity as the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission announced a 14.75 per cent increase in electricity tariffs and a 4.02 per cent increase in water tariffs.
“The NDC from 2009 to 2016 did a cumulative percentage increase in electricity tariffs of 294.6 per cent, which translates into an average increase in electricity tariffs of 36.8 per cent over its 8-year period in government,” the Minority Leader stated.
Furthermore, he noted that the NPP, on the other hand, did a cumulative percentage increase in electricity tariffs of 57.45 per cent and an average of 7.2 per cent, stressing that the government’s flagship programme, “the 24-hour economy” promise, has been contradicted by power outages.
Touching on illegal mining, Mr Afenyo-Markin emphasised that, the government was losing the fight against galamsey badly as the canker is not just an environmental issue, but a national emergency, which has many ripple effects, including threatening rivers, forests, public health, and livelihoods.
“Solving it requires a united, sustained, and apolitical effort involving government, traditional authorities, security agencies, civil society, and local communities.
Unfortunately, when the NDC was in opposition, they chose to do politics with the issue, turning it into a partisan tool, “the Minority Leader indicated.
BY BERNARD BENGHAN
