Former Minister for Finance and MP for Karaga, Dr. Moammed Amin Adam, has lambasted the government for failing to release funds to support its flagship programs despite earlier allocations.
Government, he pointed out, has either released meagre amounts for the projects or no releases at all, citing the examples below:
- National Apprenticeship Programme: GH¢300 million budgeted, GH¢21 million released (7%).
- YouStart (Ejuma Pa) Programme: GH¢100 million budgeted, GH¢34.5 million released.
- Feed Ghana & Agricultural Initiatives: GH¢1.5 billion budgeted, zero released.
- Women’s Development Bank: GH¢51.3 million budgeted, zero released.
- National Coders Programme: GH¢100 million budgeted, zero released.
- Big Push Infrastructure Project: GH¢13.8 billion allocated, zero disbursed.
According to Dr. Amin Adam, “The minister has not shown enough commitment to fund the projects they promised Ghanaians.”
Debating on Monday on by the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review presented to Parliament by the Minister for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Karaga MP noted that the government has merely submitted a list of projects without accompanying cost breakdowns, contractor details, or budgetary implications.
“How do we approve a multi-year commitment when we don’t even know the amount dedicated to each of the projects?” he queried.
Dr Amin Adam questioned the rationale behind seeking parliamentary approval for what he believes is not a supplementary budget.
The finance minister, he said, did not come to the House with a supplementary budget and questioned what he was asking Parliament to approve.
Northern region roads excluded
The Karaga MP expressed disappointment that no road projects in the northern region were included under the Big Push programme.
He argued that despite all the support the NDC got from the north, not a single project was mentioned until Monday morning, after days of public outcry.
Turning to the newly established Gold Board, which was created under a certificate of urgency, Dr. Amin Adam revealed that the Minister allocated $279 million to the Gold Board and yet not a single cedi has been released.
According to him, their operations have so far been pre-financed by the Bank of Ghana.”
24-hour economy
On the NDC’s flagship 24-hour economy policy, Dr. Amin Adam accused the government of launching grand programmes without financial backing.
The Ghana and 24-hour economy, he said, was launched with fanfare and glossy brochures and yet without a budget. He stressed that the mid-year budget confirms the government will seek funds only in 2026 and questioned why it was launched.
He blamed the government’s failure to fund key initiatives on poor fiscal management and treasury auction shortfalls.
“The minister launched 28 auctions in six months, 13 failed. The money meant for these programmes is being used to cover auction shortfalls instead.”
“While the Minister is borrowing at 15%, the Bank of Ghana is lending at 28%. That misalignment is killing investor confidence,” he said.
Responding to government claims of reducing Ghana’s debt-to-GDP ratio from 61.8% to 43% in six months, Dr. Amin scoffed: “You haven’t paid a single cedi of Ghana’s debt stock. The reduction is because of the $5 billion debt cancellation we negotiated under the NPP.”
He also criticised the Minister for taking credit for Ghana’s credit rating upgrade by Fitch, arguing that this is the same debt restructuring he (Dr. Forson) condemned in opposition, yet now ready to celebrate the outcome.
The former Finance Minister urged the current administration to act with sincerity, take the people of Ghana seriously, show commitment, release the funds, and implement what you promised. Don’t ride on propaganda.”
By Osumanu Al-Hassan
