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THE Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has said that Parliament is yet to receive programme documents on the various flagship programmes and policies of the government, including the 24-hour economy policy. He noted that the submission of such documents to Parliament would ensure Parliamentary oversight and scrutiny of various government programmes and policies that had been launched. Mr Afenyo-Markin said this at a media engagement meeting that was organised by the Leadership of Parliament yesterday to brief the media on the activities that would be taking place in Parliament. He said that, “The government has failed to furnish Parliament with programme document for the flagship programmes it has launched. Since the swearing-in, Parliament has approved billions of cedis for various ministries ostensibly to execute these programmes. Sadly, to date, none of the documents have been presented to Parliament to enable us properly commence oversight.” Mr Afenyo-Markin further said that public confidence in the governance system of the country was declining, making reference to a recent data by Global Info Analytics. According to him, the data revealed that although the percentage of Ghanaians who had confidence in the governance system of the country was 77 per cent as at July this year, the figure dropped to 66 per cent in September. Mr Afenyo-Markin noted that the data from Global Info Analytics was in contrast to what was presented by the Majority Leader in Parliament, Mr Mahama Ayariga, in Parliament on Tuesday, which he said was not a true reflection of the confidence of Ghanaians in the country’s governance system. He cited issues such as growing youth unemployment, the implementation of the GH¢1 energy sector levy, increasing inflation, and the non-scrapping of the Covid-19 levy by the government, as contributing factors to the decline of the public in the country’s governance system per the data by Global Info Analytics. The Minority Leader, therefore, urged the government to submit programme documents on its flagship programmes and initiatives for Parliamentary oversight and scrutiny. Mr Ayariga, in his response to the claims made by Mr Afenyo-Markin in relation to the submission of programme documents on government programmes to Parliament, said that such information was contained in the economic policy document that was presented by the Minister of Finance to Parliament. He further noted that the sector Ministers were allowed to analyse the economic policy document, which contained the estimated amount that was needed to implement the various programmes and policies of the government, thereby disputing the claims that were made by Mr Afenyo-Markin. According to Mr Ayariga, the Minority Leader had the power to call the various sector Ministers to brief him on the flagships programmes of the government. Moreover, he noted that while the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration acknowledged the economic challenges, it was working towards addressing those challenges and also create a conducive economic environment for the private sector to thrive. BY BENJAMIN ARVCTON-TETTEY 🔗 Follow Ghanaian Times WhatsApp Channel today. https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q🌍 Trusted News. Real Stories. Anytime, Anywhere.✅ Join our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
