There will be no budget approval if Jean Mensa is not there – First Deputy Minority Chief Whip
According to Ahmed Ibrahim, a member of the Budget Committee, if the Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson, Jean Mensa, fails to appear before them, her budget for the next fiscal year would not be approved.
There will be no budget approval if Jean Mensa is not there
It was inappropriate, he said, for her to send delegates to meet with the Committees when she should have attended herself.
“The budget is the financial and economic policy of the government…
When it comes to policy, the buck stops with the head. So, who can comment on the policy if the head is not present?” According to the First Deputy Minority Chief Whip.
The statements of the Banda MP follow the removal of EC officials, including its two Deputy Chairpersons, Dr. Bossman Asare and Samuel Tettey, from the Budget Committee hearing when they declared that the Chairperson would be unable to attend.
The Chairperson, according to the Deputies, is now not in the country.
Ahmed Ibrahim, on the other hand, claims that her absence is unjustified.
He stated that this is not the first time the EC Chairperson has skipped a Budget meeting, as she did so during the Mid-Year Budget Performance Review.
“And this isn’t the first time you’ve heard that. When we went to Rock City for the Mid-Year Budget Performance Review, she couldn’t attend; only her deputies did, but we listened to them.”
“So we figured she’d come to the budget hearing.” As a result, it was terrible that she was not present. “However, substantial constitutional questions will be addressed at the budget hearing,” he warned.
He went on to say that there were critical constitutional concerns that the Chairperson needed to address at the meeting, most notably the absence of the Santrokofi, Akpafu, Lipke, and Lolobi (SALL) people from Parliament as a result of the EC’s refusal to create a constituency for them.
“We cannot claim to represent the people of Ghana when some of them do not have representation.” And if you remain silent on this, who will speak for them?”
Mr. Ibrahim stated that this is why the EC Chair must appear before the Committee and reveal her intentions for creating a new constituency for SALL people and securing their representation, most likely before the 2024 General Elections.
Kwesi Parker-Wilson, the Banda MP, told JoyNews that they will not discuss the commission’s budget projections until Jean Mensa appears in front of the Committee.
“We need to understand her plans, compare them to the projections and data, and then evaluate her performance in the previous budget before we can approve the 2022 budget,” he added.
source: joynews
