According to Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, the aid component of the Sanitation and Water Resource Ministry’s budget which makes up more than half of its allocation, flies in the face of the President’s mantra of Ghana beyond aid.

[contextly_sidebar id=”hRVw9WdeP1XMP55MncKHmZxkdtxB04fR”]Similar concerns were raised about the budget of the Local Government Ministry.

Speaking before Parliament approved the GHc 183 million budget for the Ministry on Wednesday, Mr. Fuseini held the view that “the budget for this [Sanitation and Water Resource Ministry] is donor-driven and not domesticated [enough].”

President Nana Akufo-Addo’s mantra in recent times has been that Ghana, and Africa as a whole, can reach a point where they can thrive without having to rely on aid, which the Minority leader referenced when he voiced the Minority’s concerns.

“There is a new paradigm shift. In the budget for 2017 and 2018, the Minister of Finance happily shared a leaflet saying Ghana beyond aid. Let it not be words. Let it not be talk. Let it be marked by action, including adequate budgetary allocations for the purpose of achieving two important sustainable development goals.”

President Akufo-Addo, who currently serves as the co-Chair of the Group of Advocates of Eminent Persons of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, has conveyed the optimistic rhetoric that African countries can thrive without having to depend on aid and assistance from the west.

He has also charged African leaders to devise internal measures to address the problem within the continent without resorting to donor support.

In this light, the Minority Leader’s plea to the president was to lead by example.

“The President must walk the talk, and walk the talk such that the other countries will learn from the Ghana experience. To that extent, the Ministry deserves improved allocations,” Mr Idrissu said.

Embarrassing loan for toilets

Concerns with the foreign dependency to tackle sanitation issues were previously raised by the Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, who expressed his displeasure with $45.7 million loan facility from the International Development Bank to finance a sustainable rural water and sanitation project.

This project is to help expand access to, and ensure sustainability of water supply and sanitation services in rural and small-town communities in six regions of Ghana.

“60 years after independence, we still think that we have to borrow to build a toilet in communities. Mr. Speaker, It might be laughable, but I think that we need a change of mindset… when we go to our development partners to look for money, we must be looking for money to do more serious things and not building toilets,” the MP said in Parliament in November.

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By: Duke Mensah Opoku & Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Sanitation Ministry budget too donor-dependent – Minority appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking to Citi News, he said this case will serve as a litmus test for the effectiveness of the Police and law enforcement agencies.

[contextly_sidebar id=”3SLE6W9KtZWDmJFtWZ8eWEjMFonDVC9J”]“What we would not accept is to hear from either from the Police service or the Ghana Armed Forces or the Attorney General that they are in want of evidence. That will not be countenanced or accepted by us.”

“Let this be a litmus test for the Ghana police service and the Ghana armed forces. We have called for the Attorney General, Ministers for Interior and Defence, to work in concert to unravel the circumstances of his death and punish same accordingly.”

Major Mahama was lynched by some residents of Denkyira-Obuasi in the Upper West Denkyira District of the Central Region when he was allegedly mistaken for a robber.

Mr. Idrissu’s remarks, which came during the funeral of the army officer on Friday, follow concerns that the Police had showcased some degree of incompetence in the prosecution of the suspected members of the pro-New Patriotic Party group, Delta Force, who were discharged for lack of evidence after being accused of freeing some of their compatriots in open court.

The Tamale South MP also contended that punishing the perpetrators is the surest way to honour the memory of the fallen soldier.

“Punishing the perpetrators is what is desired by the entire country. Let’s get the facts and punish the perpetrators so that it serves as a warning and deterrent to many others who may engage in similar acts tomorrow,” Mr. Idrssu said.

So far, the Accra Central District Court 3, has remanded into police custody 34 suspects for their alleged roles in the horrendous murder. The suspects have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and murder.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/Caleb Kudah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post No excuses in prosecution of Maj. Mahama’s ‘killers’ – Haruna warns appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.