The MP has accused the presidency of defying the country’s austere conditions to allocate a huge amount of 1.5 billion cedis – the highest ever allocation to the presidency in the history of the country.

This is in spite of the fact that, about one billion of the 1.5 billion is going to be used for several of the government’s special projects announced in the budget statement.

Speaking to Citi News’ Duke Mensah Opoku, the former Deputy Education Minister said there is no purpose tied to these funds especially when the governing NPP is claiming that the budget for several sectors has been cut down.

“The justification which honourable colleague Members of Parliament sought to provide cannot be justified. We are talking about a staggering 1.5 billion, an allocation of 1.5 billion cedis. If you look at the 2016 budget, the allocation to the office of government machinery was in the region of 700 million cedis. Now if you come to even combine 4 year allocations; 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015,if you combine all those allocations to the office of government machinery , you will get 1.3 billion. It is still less than 1.5 billion cedis which has been allocated in just one year to the office of government machinery, and the point I was making is that, this is the year that the President and the Finance Minister are appealing to Ghanaians that there are too many rigidities in the budget.”

Allocations meant for special projects

In response, the Member of Parliament for Obuasi West, Kwaku Kwarteng, explained on Eyewitness News that over one billion of the amount allocated to the presidency will be used for special projects.

“GHC 1.56 billion has been allocated to the office of the President, the question we are asking is that, what are we using it for?In this year, we are rolling out many fresh initiatives. One district,one factory; one village, one dam, the Zongo Development Initiative and all those special initiatives whose cost come up to about 1 billion, are all sitting in the budget of the office of the President so the 500 or so that Honourable Okudzeto is talking about is what is left for the office of the government machine to do the traditional things”

He wondered why Okudzeto Ablakwa will raise concerns about the amount of money going to the presidency when an excess of 700 million went to the same office just last year.

“…Just last year, after allocation, actuals, government allocated in excess of 700 million to the office of the President which is more than the 500 that we are allocating this year, so I find it very hard to understand why anybody will be interpreting this. It is lower than what was done last year.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post Allocating GHC 500m to presidency wrong – Ablakwa appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on the status of the NHIS, Mr. Otoo said the President’s statement is a welcome call and one that will provide respite for the Scheme.

[contextly_sidebar id=”DfOkcplgkJM6QIOWLf6PRXg9OyzIqcVK”]“His Excellency the President’s recent announcement to commit a portion of the oil revenue to the NHIS is gratifying as it provides a significant prospect to address the issues of sustainability,” the NHIS boss averred.

The NHIS is mainly funded by taxes and deductions from social security contributions. Premium payment, according to the NHIA, accounts for less than 4% of the Scheme’s revenue base.

In the last few years, the subject of the sustainability of the Scheme has become topical. Administrators of the Scheme have maintained that given the steady growth of the scheme and the global trend of healthcare financing, a review of NHIS’ funding sources was important to support the expansion of the Scheme.

President Mahama at a recent event in Accra, mentioned that he will push for the allocation of petroleum revenue for the funding of the NHIS.

According to him, there is the need to rework the sustainability of the Scheme, hence the need to “look for new sources of funding for the National Health Insurance.”

Thus he said, “My proposal is that a percentage of the annual budget funding amount that comes from petroleum revenues should be allocated to the National Health Insurance Scheme.”

This commitment by the President is what the NHIA top man described as progressive.

“This is forward looking and an indication that the known challenge of delays in claims payment occasioned by the inadequacy of funds from the traditional funding sources, could be dealt with,” an optimistic Mr. Otoo stated.

The NHIS currently has a membership of 11.3 million members with an average of 40,000 people either joining or renewing their membership daily.

This huge number and the accompanying cost of their healthcare, arguably puts a lot of strain on the kitty of the Scheme, especially as about 70% of these people by law do not pay premiums.

The categories of people who do not pay premiums include the poor, persons below 18 years, aged, pregnant women among others.

Health sector players have lauded the President’s promise, and have said it will allow the NHIS some more financial muscle to support its operations.

Mr. Otoo mentioned that, the NHIA in recent years has employed technology in addressing many of the challenges it has faced.

He named the introduction of paperless NHIS registration which saves the Scheme about 6 million cedis annually, introduction of Provider Unique Identification, electronic identification of the poor and vulnerable persons for enrolment onto NHIS, the expansion of Clinical Audit capacity among many others.

A new product, the multi-year registration for NHIS members, which allows NHIS members the option to renew their membership for 2, 3 or 4 years, was launched on the same day.
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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Allocation of petroleum revenue to NHIS laudable – NHIS Boss appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.