2022 budget is an illegal document – Policy analyst

A policy analyst has described the 2022 budget and economic policy statement presented to parliament by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta as an illegal document.

The policy analyst explained that the way and manner that the fiscal policy document was rejected by the Minority Caucus and later approved by the Majority Caucus, makes it an illegal document.

Mr Jonathan Asante Otchere made the comment when he spoke on Accra100.5FM’s mid-day news on Monday, 6 December 2021.

According to him, the said document cannot be admitted for any business stemming from the circumstances surrounding its rejection and subsequent approval.

“The document lacks credibility”, he said, noting that it does not qualify to be an economic policy document to guide Ghana’s expenditure in 2022.

He believes it is an “illegal” document that cannot be admitted for any parliamentary business.

“The 2022 budget cannot stand the test of time if subjected to parliamentary scrutiny”, he argued.

He said the Minority group in parliament can make some concessions by admitting portions of the 2022 budget but it still remains an illegal document.

To him, the behaviour of the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Joe Osei-Owusu, during the approval of the budget, was fraught with illegalities.

“The way and manner the First Deputy Speaker threw his weight about in the absence of the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin, makes the document a walking illegality”.

In his view, the president’s recent ban on international travel by his appointees was in the right direction, since the government needs the numbers in parliament to do business.