The claim that Parliamentarians unanimously accepted a loan arrangement between the government and the World Bank for a sum of $200 million to support the Ghana Digital Acceleration Initiative is inaccurate, according to John Jinapor, the member of parliament for Yapei/Kusawgu.
He said that while the minority caucus fiercely opposed the loan arrangement, the percentages did not favour them, and it would be unreasonable for anyone to hold them responsible for its passage.
The ranking member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament said on Eyewitness News with Umaru Sanda Amadu that the loans were only approved by the Majority.
He stated that adopting the loan arrangement would exacerbate Ghanaians’ economic problems, which already exist.
“It’s untrue that such loans were authorised by the House in unanimity. You can find out that it was a majority decision if you look at the committee’s report. The report of the committee will witness to the Minority side’s objections. Therefore, the Majority won by a solitary vote.
“Today, the voice vote clearly indicated that we, the Minority side gave an emphatic no. The Speaker gave it to the Majority side because they have the numbers. If anybody wants to blame the Minority for the insensitivity and incompetence of this government, I think that it will be very unfortunate and unfair,” he explained.
The Deputy Finance Minister, Dr. John Kumah noted that the loans are not new agreements but loans already contracted.
“These are not new loans, they are loans we have already taken on in our books. We want to put it on record that these are loans we have already contracted on our books and require Parliamentary approval. Parliament just approved the agreement between government and Development Bank Ghana. These are not new loans, they are loans we have already taken on in our books. We want to put it on record that these are loans we have already contracted on our books and require Parliamentary approval,” Mr. Kumah said.
Responding to this, John Jinapor lashed out at the Deputy Finance Minister for being disingenuous with his comment on the loan agreements.
“The Deputy Finance Minister was being disingenuous, to say the least. John Kumah should take his time, learn from past experience and move away from this narrative because it will not help him at all,” he asserted.
The House also approved an amount of $150 million dollars for the financing of the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme phase 2 under the Multi-phase programmatic approach.
Parliament also approved an on-lending agreement between the government and the Development Bank Ghana for an amount of £170 million Euros to support the establishment of a financially sustainable development Bank.
