{"id":378917,"date":"2017-11-30T10:36:11","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T10:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=378917"},"modified":"2017-11-30T13:20:13","modified_gmt":"2017-11-30T13:20:13","slug":"minority-threatens-to-boycott-approval-of-national-security-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/11\/minority-threatens-to-boycott-approval-of-national-security-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Minority threatens to boycott approval of National Security budget"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Minority is threatening to boycott the approval process for the allocation made in the 2018 budget for the country’s National Security set up.<\/p>\n
This, they say, is due to government’s disregard for the provisions of the Public Financial Management Act, which requires the regular submission of intelligence reports on the security situation in the country to Parliament.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”ZLNnqD299P2p2IHMvzRqMTUAdbeiKYwa”]According to Minority Spokesperson on Interior and Defense, James Agalga, the government has no justification for flouting the law hence their intended action.<\/p>\n
\u201cUpon the elevation of the Secretariat of the National Security Council into a full fledged Ministry, I believe what was within the contemplation of his excellency the President was to ensure that the intelligence agencies of state are accountable to this house. The enabling Act for the existence of the Ministry for National Security, specifically requires it to report to this house on their activities to make it possible for this house to exercise its oversight responsibilities.<\/p>\n
“Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, they have omitted to discharge this function, thereby making it impossible for us to assess their performance as stipulated under the Public Financial Act 2016. This is an unpardonable violation which makes it difficult to asses their budget estimates. In the absence of that report, I am submitting that we cannot consider the budget estimates of the Ministry for National Security.\u201d<\/p>\n