Accra, Greater Accra Region – The Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business, Hon. Mahama Ayariga has warned Parliament that approving bad loan agreements and unchecked budget deficits will come with an electoral price, just as voters punished the previous administration in the 2024 elections.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament during a debt management debate, the Majority Leader said the current NDC government is drawing a “sharp contrast” with the past by rejecting loans where only 30-40% of funds reach actual projects while 60% goes to vehicles, consultants and “irrelevant matters”.
“Loan leakage is killing us”
He disclosed that new analysis done by government shows a typical loan is structured to spend just 30-40% on the actual project. “About 20% goes to vehicles, 15% goes to consultants, 10% goes to irrelevant matter. Yet, we are begging for money, and then ultimately we are using 60% of the money for things that are not relevant. But we are supposed to pay 100% of the money,” he told MPs.
Because of this, he said, “this government upon coming to office has had to reject a lot of loans on the basis of that analysis.”
New rule: No budget, no contract
The Majority Leader blamed the debt crisis on the old system where “every minister could award contract and then the government had to go borrow to pay contractors.”
Under the new rule, he said: “No minister can, unless you have commitment authorization. That means that finance minister has budgeted for it. If it is not budgeted for, you cannot even commence procurement.”
He added that government has “cut down on the number of ministries… because we want to ensure that we have discipline” and will only engage in external borrowing “what we can show that we can pay.”
Parliament also culpable
In a rare rebuke of his own House, the Majority Leader said Parliament “has not been helping matters” because it continues to approve loans that “violate debt limits” and only plays “political football” after a crisis hits.
He recalled that 88 NPP MPs, signed a petition to remove the former Finance Minister before the crisis. “We told them if they listen to us this country will not be where it is,” he said.
Voters are watching
Warning both sides of the House, he said: “If we fail in all these, those who have voted for us end up paying the price. And it will reflect in the kind of numbers that we saw on your side in the last election. So this time, if we don’t do it well it might reflect on this side.”
2025 Debt Report to settle debate
He said Ghanaians will get hard proof when the “2025 Public Debt Management Report” is presented. “When it comes we will debate, we will scrutinize it. And that report will show the contrast between NDP government and NDC government, between Mahama and Akufo-Addo.”
His ambition, he added, is for President John Mahama to “set a bar that even if NPP ever come, they cannot go below that bar.” The goal, he said, is proper debt management that “gives you the international image that attracts investment… towards creating an economy that creates jobs.”
Source: Clement Akoloh/parliamentnews360.com
