By: Razak Baba
Stakeholders at a forum in Kumasi have called on the government to as a matter of urgency increase funding for social intervention programmes with the aim to support the vulnerable.
Discussants also raised concerns about some anomalies in the implementation of the Government’s flagship programmes including the Free Senior High School policy and the School Feeding Programme.
The forum was organised by SEND Ghana and sponsored jointly by the United Nations Children’s Fund and OXFAM.
The purpose was to collate inputs for the 2023 National Budget Statement and Economic Policy.
Participants were for youth groups, women groups, persons with disabilities, civil society organisations, traditional authorities, media and key state institutions and agencies in the Ahafo, Bono, Bono East, Western North and Ashanti Regions.
Discussions made a strong case for the Government to put together a budget that would tackle infrastructure deficit and key pressing national issues in all sectors to improve the lives of people living in deprived communities.
In a presentation, the Head of Budget Development and Reforms at the Finance Ministry, Dr. Alex Amankwah-Poku said it is a constitutional provision for citizens to make inputs for the national budget prepared by the Government every year.
He explained that the inputs collated from the citizens would be submitted to the appropriate Sector Ministry for consideration in their 2023 budget estimates to the Ministry of Finance.
In an interview, the National Coordinator, Local Governance Network, Mr. Christopher Dapaah said contributions of civil society organisations in addressing socio-economic development cannot be overemphasized.
The Senior Programmes Manager of SEND-Ghana, Madam Harriet Nuamah Agyemang urged participants to show interest in next year’s budget implementation to ensure value for money.
Since 2015, SEND-Ghana has been organizing such public forums to collate input for the national budget as well as medium-term development plans for districts as a means of addressing concerns of citizens.
