Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Minority Leader of Parliament, has boldly stated that the 2026 Budget Statement and Economic Policy Document must be withdrawn, with a new budget brought before Parliament.
The minority leader labelled the 2026 Budget Statement as a “cut-and-paste” compilation, failing to provide a fresh policy direction.
According to Afenyo-Markin, Ato Forson, the finance minister, failed to present a carefully prepared and accurate budget.
Speaking on the floor of parliament during the debate of the policy document on Thursday, November 27, Afenyo-Markin stated, “How can you, at paragraph 519, claim that there is a Ministry of Railway Development? How can you, at paragraph 528, say there is a Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, and at paragraph 523 refer to a Ministry of Works and Housing?”
He further asserted that the 2026 budget was recycled from previous budget statements.
“This document has been brought to Parliament in the least. This document must be withdrawn and a new budget brought before Parliament,” he stated.
Also, Afenyo-Markin accused the John Mahama-led government of being an enabler of galamsey through Goldbod.
The minority leader added, “This government has surrendered to galamsey activities. This government has become its enabler”.
“In this budget, the government announced that the Gold Board will buy gold from small-scale miners. They are not fighting illegal mining. Instead, the NDC government is financing it. This gives it official endorsement,” he stated.
He further lamented, “Today, members of NAIMOS are getting hurt, shot at, and even killed while fighting a battle their own government has abandoned. Eight lives were lost on their way to launch a programme to fight illegal mining”.
“Today, their own government is showing neither seriousness nor commitment to stop illegal mining. They have created a Gold Board to buy gold they cannot trace and from miners they cannot verify, a system built for complicity, not enforcement. If the government cannot trace the gold, it should not buy it,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kofi Benteh Afful, the NDC Member of Parliament for Sefwi Wiawso, has mocked the NPP Minority in Parliament as the One Corner Minority.
According to the NDC MP, the minority are failing to see the distinction between economic growth and development.
He asserted that the NPP minority fears that when the 2026 budget is executed, they will become extinct.
Kofi Benteh Afful further mocked the NPP minority, saying that their best score in the December 2024 election was 87 out of 276.
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