The Member of Parliament for Kwesimintsim, Hon. Fiifi Buckman, delivered a spirited defence of the 2026 Budget Statement and Fiscal Policy on the floor of Parliament, chastising the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for what he described as wasteful governance and abandoned projects during their eight years in office.
Hon. Buckman said he was “marvelled” by the demands of the Minority, arguing that the NPP, which left office barely ten months ago, had no moral authority to expect the current administration to immediately fix the challenges they had created.
“They dissipated the finances of this state in eight years,” he stated, criticizing the previous administration’s record, particularly on judicial infrastructure. According to him, the NPP failed to construct buildings for the Superior Courts and even destroyed judges’ residences in the course of pursuing the controversial National Cathedral project.
The MP praised the newly appointed Chief Justice, Justice Paul Baffoe Bonnie, describing him as a reformist determined to “bring a paradigm shift” to Ghana’s judiciary.
He also linked the heavy rains that fell on the morning of the budget presentation to divine favour, saying it was “a sign that God Himself led the battle.”
Abandoned Projects in the Western Region
Turning his attention to developments in the Western Region, Hon. Buckman accused the NPP of neglecting major infrastructure projects for decades.
He cited the Kwame Nkrumah Overpass in Takoradi and the Takoradi Central Market, claiming both were left unattended for many years despite the NPP holding five parliamentary seats in the region for nearly three decades.
According to him, the 2026 Budget finally offers a renewed commitment to the region through the government’s “Big Push” agenda, with several stalled projects being revived, including the Afia Nkwanta Teaching Hospital and the Apimenim Regional Hospital, which he said was abandoned by the previous administration.
He added that statutory payments owed to contractors had now been cleared, enabling work to resume on multiple projects across districts.
On Jobs and Development
Responding to claims by an NPP MP from the Afia Constituency about job shortages, Hon. Buckman said the government was already addressing the issue.
“Tomorrow, we are cutting sod for five major projects in his constituency,” he emphasised, adding that schools were being built and contractors were back to work.
He said the Finance Minister inherited an economy “in the Intensive Care Unit,” arguing that the NPP had plunged the country into an “Economic ICU” which the current administration was now working to resuscitate.
Hon. Buckman also took a swipe at the MP for Takoradi, whom he accused of downplaying the President’s recent visit to the Western Region by complaining about the rising cost of kenkey.
“That kenkey is a boutique kenkey,” he said humorously. “Those of us who are downtrodden go to the open market where it is GH₵3 or GH₵5.”
Call for National Support
Concluding his remarks, the Kwesimintsim MP urged Ghanaians across the political divide to back the 2026 Budget.
“Every individual in Ghana should support this budget with his spirit and soul so that we carry this country to the highest place and take it out of the abyss which the NPP government put us into,” he said.
Source: Clement Akoloh||parliamentnews360.com
