The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has criticised the government for engaging in wasteful expenditure, despite its campaign promises to maintain a lean government and ensure prudent use of state funds.The party stressed that the government has failed woefully on its promises, as it has allocated GH¢3.8 billion to the Office of Government Machinery, with GH¢2.7 billion of the amount being designated solely for staff remuneration.At a press conference in Accra yesterday, in response to President John Mahama's account of his 120 days in office, the Minority Leader, Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin, urged the government to honour its commitments and eliminate wasteful spending.Mr Afenyo-Markin stated that the reduction in the number of ministers was merely a distraction from the unchecked expansion of the executive branch.He alleged that the government machinery was using state funds to reward party loyalists, describing the act as "turning a reduction in ministerial appointments into an opportunity for cronyism".The Minority Leader also stated that: "the reality is that the supposed reduction in ministerial positions has had little to no effect on the growing costs of government.
If this administration were truly serious about austerity, then why was a staggering GH¢3.8 billion allocated to the Office of Government Machinery alone?
Of that amount, an astonishing GH¢2.7 billion has been set aside just for staff remuneration."Mr Afenyo-Markin said that instead of the government focusing on the mandate Ghanaians had entrusted to them, and addressing pressing issues confronting the nation, such as unstable power, unemployment, among others, it has chosen the path of retaliatory politics and political persecution of opponents."Under the leadership of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the NPP government successfully kept the lights on for eight consecutive years and handed over a stable power situation.
We invested significantly in the Energy sector to improve power generation capacity.
