Ablakwa writes: Summary of Minority’s 2023 Budget approval Successes

A summary of our 2023 Budget Approval Successes:

1) GHS1.3billion (€116million) Accra International Conference Centre Demolition and Redevelopment plans scuttled;

2) Projections to establish new diplomatic missions in Jamaica, Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago shot down;

3) GHS80million sleazy allocation to President Akufo-Addo’s Cathedral defeated and expunged from the Appropriation Act;

4) GHS1.4billion mind-boggling request for the infamous Contingency Vote cut drastically to GHS533million;

5) Anti-poor proposal to remove the e-Levy threshold defeated;

6) Scrapping a colossal GHS27.5million allocation to the wasteful and amorphous Special Development Initiatives Secretariat & the needless Monitoring and Evaluation Secretariat all at the Office of the President. The 2 Secretariats have therefore been virtually collapsed;

7) Defeated the repugnant tax measure intended to compel drivers, particularly commercial drivers to produce tax clearance certificates as a requirement for renewing driver’s license;

Our only setback:
Objectively and sincerely, despite an unwavering determination of the NDC Parliamentary Caucus to achieve all we set out to accomplish in solidarity with suffering Ghanaians, we lost the crucial VAT vote by a narrow 136-135.
This is the only item on our 8-Point Must-Win-Agenda which we failed to deliver, and for which we are deeply pained. We did our very best but as they say, it’s always difficult to win everything. Nevertheless, we live to fight another day.

Together, with a high dose of patriotism and unquestionable integrity, we shall construct the Ghana we want.

Ghana First 🇬🇭