The majority in Parliament has described the Minority as hypocritical for their critiques of the 2026 budget, arguing that they lament unemployment and poverty despite having presided over economic mismanagement in the past.
During the debate on the 2026 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, held on the floor of the House yesterday and presided over by the First Deputy Speaker and MP for Akatsi South, Bernard Ahiafor, they insisted that the budget emphasises growth-oriented spending, fiscal prudence and investments in critical sectors such as energy, roads, education and agriculture to create jobs and reduce poverty.
The Minority, however, questioned the budget’s effectiveness, arguing limited progress on employment, falling oil revenues and questionable expenditure priorities, including VIP aircraft purchases.
They also called for greater transparency in gold reserve funding and urged the government to focus on completing existing infrastructure before embarking on new projects.
Reset budget, high approval
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Tamale North, Alhaji Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini, lauded the Finance Minister and the government for a “very simple-to-digest budget” and praised the administration’s honesty in addressing the country’s distressed economy.
He emphasised that the government’s focus is on “tighter expenditure controls and growth-oriented spending” with allocations that “will help to spur the economy on.”
He accused the previous administration of hypocrisy, saying, “Mr Speaker, the culture of corruption that directly fuelled unemployment and poverty they now pretend to decry can only be attributed to their administration. How can jobs be created when contract sums were inflated?”
Aihaji Suhuyini enumerated infrastructure and energy projects, citing the GPP-2 and road corridor expansions.
“Mr Speaker, these are projects that will impact our economy, that will produce jobs and that will create employment.”
The NDC MP for Pusiga, Hajia Laadi Ayii Ayamba, pointed to the government’s investment in education and grassroots development, saying the budget allocated resources for “four sets of KG books for 200,000 learners… four sets of primary textbooks for two million learners…200 units of 66-seater buses and 200 double-cabin pick-ups for distribution to secondary schools.”
She criticised opposition claims on galamsey and corruption, arguing that the current administration was acting decisively.
“This government is taking it up very seriously because you can see the number of people who are being held for misbehaviour.”
The Deputy Minister of Finance and NDC MP for Asuogyaman, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, highlighted the budget’s endorsement by the public, stating, “about 82 per cent of respondents have given approval to this budget.”
He cited macroeconomic improvements: “Inflation that we inherited at 23.8 per cent today has reduced significantly to eight per cent…Public debt…has reduced significantly to 630 billion.”
Mr Ampem stressed job creation through investment, citing allocations such as “$500 million to oil palm plantation” and infrastructure projects.
He also praised prudent management of the energy sector: “ECG today is on course. We are no longer building arrears.”
Underachievement, misplaced priorities
Speaking from the Minority side, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Bimbilla, Dominic Nitiwul, argued that less than 30 per cent of the 2025 budget promises had been achieved and 70 per cent of the budget was made up of policies that had their foundations laid by the previous administration.
He also questioned the purchase of VIP aircraft, stating, “If you have GH¢9 billion in three years to spend on the Ghana Air Force, go first and procure one fighter jet for the military.
That is what the military needs first.”
He urged the government to admit that it wanted to purchase two presidential jets, while emphasising that the priority should be the nation’s strategic military needs, not executive comfort.
However, the Speaker rejected Mr Nitiwul’s tabling of photos and documents to support his claim, stating that “anything said about the pictures and the documents should be expunged because there were no pictures in the budget,” as he could not link his argument on VIP jets to explicit provisions in the budget.
The NPP MP for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Yaw Boamah, raised concerns over the government’s handling of oil revenues and infrastructure priorities.
“Revenue from oil is falling and I didn’t hear any specific policy measure to improve upon our oil revenues,” he said.
He also questioned the government’s plan to build a new expressway, saying “a reasonable government would take the completion of the dualisation programme as a priority, complete it and save Ghanaian lives rather than taking another step of constructing an expressway.”
Mr Boamah further stressed transparency in the gold reserve programme, highlighting funding discrepancies and accountability issues.
The NPP MP for Effia, Isaac Boamah-Nyarko, also criticised the budget’s weak impact on employment and economic growth.
He argued, “The 2026 Budget is a run-off to the 2025 Budget… Yet, when you look at the Budget itself, there is very little that speaks into promoting growth, promoting jobs and bringing transformation.”
He stressed the declining industry and service sector growth, warning that “our communities are poor.
The economy is looking macroeconomic, right? But our pockets are dry.”
