Ranking Member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, Cassiel Ato Forson has said that he is willing to forgo some privileges he enjoys as a lawmaker for the sake of Ghana’s development.
His comments come after the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Kwaku Kwarteng, made calls on the political class to consider making some sacrifices in the face of economic hardship facing the country.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, Kwaku Kwarteng appealed to MPs to take decisions that will ease the pressure on the public purse.
According to him, some expenditure of the House, such as monies spent on printing calendars and diaries, are unnecessary.
Kwaku Kwarteng asked his colleague lawmakers to lead by example.
“The Speaker reminds us all the time that we are the representatives of the people. Parliament should not just oversight the Executive, we must lead by example,” he said.
Responding to this on Joy FM‘s Top Story on Tuesday, Cassiel Ato Forson pledged to make deliberate efforts in support of the cause.
He said that he is personally ready to sacrifice some benefits such as “ex-gratia and car loans for the purpose of the reforms we need in the country.”
However, he said that the Executive must lead the way in making the sacrifices.
“It is important for the President to reduce his convoy anytime he is traveling because the fuel is indeed sponsored by the State. It is important for His Excellency the President to stop all luxury he is engaging in. It should start from them, not just the Member of Parliament,” he said.
Meanwhile, the former Deputy Finance Minister has warned that the country’s economy will crash if pragmatic steps are not taken to reduce expenditure.
“It is a fact that Ghana’s expenditure in 2020 is a complete outlier in the whole of Africa. The fiscal deficit in most African countries was 7% on average. Ghana’s fiscal deficit was 15.6%. The wages of election year expenditure is ‘Sadoses’ and if we don’t deal with it, the economy will crash into an intensive care unit and that’s not what we want,” he warned.
