Budget rejection: Gabby slams Minority, ‘hails’ Bagbin, cites Constitution

Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko had a busy Friday evening on Twitter whiles reacting to the rejection of the 2022 Budget by Parliament.

The former Danquah Institute boss in three tweets addressed a range of issues from the type of Parliament Ghana had, sarcastically hailed the Speaker, decried the impact of the rejected and cited a Constitutional reason why the rejection was problematic.

His three tweets are as follows:

“A topsy turvy legislature where the Opposition is determined to have their say and way, denying the nation revenues and shall in unison shout with pride and joy that they are rather for and with the people! All hail the Speaker! Sanity shall prevail. Ghana will win.”

The second tweet was tied to an Asaase radio story on the rejection titled: ‘Parliament rejects 2022 budget after Minority walkout,’ he wrote: “Rejecting a national budget means for that budget year there will be no money to spend on anything by Government, including wages; no cash for roads, schools and hospitals. It means no show!”

His final post had a legal angle to it, it read: “The Constitution of the Republic is supreme. Article 104 is as clear as can be. If you don’t have at least half of Parliament you don’t have it.”

A one-sided House (the Minority Caucus) voted to reject the 2022 Budget presented before the house by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta on November 17.

The Majority Group had earlier walked out of the House after a disagreement with the Speaker on his order to have all non-MPs leave the house for a crucial vote.

The vote in question was to determine whether a request by the Finance Minister for Parliament to give him time to consult with the leadership of the house on aspects of the budget before the approval vote is held.

Bagbin later allowed the 137 Minority MPs to vote on the Minister’s prayer, which was rejected before they also voted en bloc to reject the 2022 budget as presented by Ofori-Atta.