Mahama did much with GHC71bn, what has Akufo-Addo done with GHC141bn? – Minority ask

The Minority in Parliament has said John Mahama, in his first three years as President did so much in terms of infrastructure with the GHC71 billion revenue his administration had while President Nana Akufo-Addo has nothing to show for the GHC141 billion oil revenue his government has bagged so far in its three years in office.

“President Mahama received only GHC3 billion of energy sector levies; President Akufo-Addo is receiving GHC12 billion of the energy sector levies. Not only have they retained it, they have increased the levies on petroleum, they’ve increased the levies on diesel, they’ve increased the levies on gas and they’ve increased the levies on petrol”, Mr Jinapor told journalists at a forum in Accra on Wednesday, February 12, 2020.

“And, so, he noted, “When the BDCs are paid through the energy sector levies, instead of giving credit to the man who dreamt about it, who conceived it, who pioneered it, they rather want to take credit for what they did not sow”, he said.

Making reference to a delivery by Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia at a town hall meeting in Kumasi, Ashanti Region on Tuesday, Mr Jinapor said: “And yesterday, I saw them parading it all over”.

“I think the time has come for us to be honest, the time has come for politicians to state the truth and be honest to the people of Ghana because politics can also be about the truth. Like I said, if you look at total revenues – and I decided to do three years [against] three years – if you look at the budget, President Mahama received GHC71 billion in the three years, President Akufo-Addo has received GHC141 billion in three years, and, so, you can see the little that President Mahama got in terms of revenue and the whopping amount that President Akufo-Addo got and compare the two to see who has done better given the circumstances that they find themselves in”, Mr Jinapor noted.

According to him, “Due to this huge petroleum increases, and if you look at the 2018 budget, Ghana had a surplus in terms of the exports of petroleum and the imports of more than $1 billion, and, so the Finance Minister quickly comes to parliament and he announces that they’ve done so well, the trade balance has improved – it is not positive.

“But when you look at the trade balance, you clearly see that it’s on account of petroleum. … Go and look at the current account and you’ll see a huge negative. … And, so, Dr Bawumia can decide that he’ll do statistical galamsey and give you figures on only trade but wouldn’t deal with the current account” the opposition lawmaker said".