Parliament can save millions through diligence — Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu
The minority leader of Parliament, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has stated that the challenges confronting the country would have been prevented if Parliament were exercising its functions with due diligence.
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According to him, huge sums could be saved from going into private pockets, if Parliament worked properly.
“If Parliament were to exercise its oversight responsibilities diligently, while the budget cycle is rolling out and programmes and projects are being implemented and as loans are being contracted, over-invoicing, under-invoicing, unbridled sole sourcing and restrictive tendering shall minimise or become things of the past,” he stated.
Through diligence, he said, Parliament could save millions of monies from the national coffers that ended up in private pockets, instead of being utilised to deliver basic amenities like schools, potable water, electricity, clinics and other development projects.
“Power of purse function”
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who is also the Member of Parliament of the Suame Constituency, made the remarks at the inaugural symposium on law and public policy on the theme: “Laws that work; Rethinking Ghana’s National Development Path.”
Noble Law Group is a non-governmental law and policy research think tank established with the aim of critically reviewing and analysing existing national laws and development policies, taking into account the social, governance and political economy of the Ghana.
Mr Kyei-Mansah-Bonsu conceded that Parliament was the bulwark of good democratic governance, adding that if “Parliament has the power of purse function…..it is the gatekeeper of the national purse”.
“If Parliament insisted that it would not allow any President to exceed the ceiling of allocations as captured in an Appropriation Act and provided sanctions against errant Presidents or Executives there will be sanity in our financial administration and economic development would be guaranteed,” he stated.
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40-year development plan
Presenting a paper on Ghana’s 40-year National Development Plan: Prospects, Implementation and Sustainability, the Executive Director of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Nii Moi Thompson, on his behalf, said the long-term development plan was needed for the socio-economic prosperity of the nation, adding that enforcing compliance with the laws was one key component of the plan.
He said medium-term development plans would be incorporated within the long-term frameworks to give every generation and government the opportunity to contribute to the transformation in stages.
He also noted that Parliament would review the long-term plan every 10 years and the medium-term plans would be translated into annual plans and aligned with the annual budget.
Dr Thompson further explained that a long-term national development plan was a requirement of law as well as a popular request by the people of Ghana, which emerged during the Constitution Review Exercise.
He said the mandate of NDPC in generating a long-term national development plan for the country was embedded in law, citing Articles 85, 86 and 87 of the 1992 Constitution, National Development Planning Commission Act, 1994 (Act 479) and the National Development Planning (System) Act, 1994 (Act 480).
Earlier in this welcome address, the Advocacy Coordinator of the Noble Law Group, Mr Herbert Krampah, said the initiative was to take charge of advancing law and public policy as an instrument for furthering sustainable national development and good governance.