Bagbin: 'I'm unable to accept reduction in budgetary allocation to Parliament

The budgetary allocation for Parliament has been reduced by GH¢190.4 million.

This is contained in a letter from the Office of the President and addressed to the Speaker of Parliament.

The Speaker, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin who disclosed this on the floor of Parliament Tuesday said "respectfully I'm unable to accept such reduction."

He said it is Parliament that is vested with power to decide the budget of arms of government, not the power of the Executive to cap budget of the two bodies.

He therefore said he would insist that the right thing is done.

Parliament is to debate the 2021 budget statement and economic policy.

Read also: Capping budget estimates for Parliament, Judiciary unacceptable — Speaker

Last week, Mr Bagbin expressed displeasure about the decision by the Executive to cap the budget allocation for the Legislature and the Judiciary.

He said what was even more unacceptable was the very low ceiling, which he described as “below the belt”.

As the two arms of government mandated to provide checks and balances on the Executive, he proposed that Parliament and the Judiciary be given particular attention since they were not sectors of the economy.

“These are arms of government and we are not going to take any budget that is like a ministry’s budget. That is not going to be tolerated. Those arms of government will also have to be strengthened to be able to perform their functions,” he stated.

more to follow...