Accra: Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, the Minority Leader in Parliament, has accused the Mahama administration of allegedly failing to submit key documents on its flagship programmes to Parliament for scrutiny. This, he explained, undermined transparency and accountability.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr Afenyo-Markin voiced his concerns at a Leaders’ Media Briefing in Parliament House on Wednesday. He highlighted that despite the government launching several high-profile initiatives and Parliament approving substantial budget allocations for their implementation, legislators were yet to receive the relevant documentation. “The government has failed to furnish Parliament with programme documents for the flagship programmes it has launched,” he stated.
He further elaborated, “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 to properly c
ommence oversight.”
The Leaders’ Media Briefing serves as a periodic engagement between the Leadership of the House and the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) at the beginning of every Meeting of Parliament to outline the framework of the Meeting. It also provides a platform for interaction between the Leaders, the Media Relations Department of Parliament, and the PPC.
Mr Afenyo-Markin specifically mentioned initiatives such as the 24-Hour Economy programme, the One Million Coders programme, the Agri-for-Economic Transformation initiative, the Labour Export programme, and the National Apprenticeship Programme as examples of programmes that had allegedly not undergone parliamentary scrutiny. “Oversight cannot happen when the basic programme documents are not laid before Parliament. It is imperative that the government demonstrates commitment and avails these documents for proper parliamentary oversight,” the Minority leader added.
Meanwhile, Mr Afenyo-Markin assured that the Minority caucus would continue to d
emand accountability from the Executive and insisted that all programme documents be submitted to Parliament to ensure transparency, fairness, and effective implementation.