Bagbin breaks silence, pokes holes into majority claims on 2022 budget rejection

Parliament rejects 2022 budget

138 MPs were present in parliament during budget voting, says Speaker

The Speaker of Parliament has, for the first time spoken after the rejection of the 2022 budget in parliament.

In a Facebook post, the Speaker of Parliament said the 2022 budget was lawfully rejected, therefore, the statement by the majority that it was unconstitutional should be disregarded.

He added that at the time the budget was rejected, over 138 Members of Parliament were present.

“Please let it be known that there were more than 137 MPs on the floor when I put the question for the approval or rejection of the Economic Policy and Financial Statement of the government for the 2022 financial year often referred to as the Budget for 2022,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

Below is post

Background:

On Friday, November 26, 2021, all 137 Minority Members of Parliament voted against the motion when the question was put forward by Speaker Alban Bagbin.

The Majority had earlier walked out of the house after a disagreement with the Speaker on the presence of the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia.

The House first voted to dismiss a motion by the Finance Minister seeking to engage the leadership of both parties before voting on the Budget.

Reacting to this development in parliament, the Majority leader Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu stated what they say is the unconstitutionality associated with a vote purportedly rejecting the 2022 Budget as presented by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta on November 17, 2021.

In a statement issued late Friday, November 26, 2021, after the 137 Minority MPs voted to reject the Budget, the Majority cited among other reasons the need for at least 138 MPs in the house for the vote to be valid.

Whiles accusing Speaker Alban Bagbin of acting on his boast to obstruct government business, the statement added that failure to grant the Finance Minister audience with a request to delay the approval vote was a sign of a predetermined motive to frustrate government business.

The Speaker has however responded to these allegations and has set the records straight.