Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has revealed that anyone who would say the 2022 budget has been rejected should be hooted at.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, on November 17, announced the country’s plan to introduce a 1.75% levy on all electronic transactions including on mobile money payments, bank transfers and merchant payments from January to widen the tax net.
At the parliament on Friday, the ruling party, New Patriotic Party lawmakers walked out after accusing the house speaker of bias because he said the finance minister should not be present during the vote.
In their absence, a vote was conducted and the opposition rejected the budget. This means the ruling party will now have to negotiate with the opposition party in parliament to reach a compromise over the budget proposal.
Speaking in an exclusive interview on Germany-based Ghanaian radio station; Fresh Radio Online ,the information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah without mincing words stated that the budget has never been rejected.
According to the information Minister, any one who would say the 2022 budget has been rejected should be hooted at. The NPP stalwart was of the view that it’s only the parliament of the republic of Ghana that can reject the budget.
He explained that , “When we say parliament, it is not the building nor is it the speaker…When parliament is taking decisions. One or two persons can not sit in the Chamber in the parliament house and make a decision. It is at least 138 parliamentarians to decide. Even if it’s 137 people in the Chamber ,their decisions would be void”.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah explained extensively to the host of the show, Pfresh that, “It was the Speaker and his NDC Parliamentarians who rejected the budget…nothing has really happened…Ghanaians should stay calm ….Thursday we shall go to Parliament and revisit the issue”.
