The Minority in Parliament, speaking ahead of the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review to be read by the Finance Minister, Hon. Cassiel Ato Forson, on July 23, has called on the Minister to resist announcing new policies and instead focus on completing existing ones.
The statement, delivered by the Ofoase Ayirebi Member of Parliament (MP), Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the Finance Minister’s posturing ahead of the reading suggests he intends to announce new strategies.
“The Minister has already started sounding the market that he is going to announce some new strategies tomorrow,” he cautioned, adding, “Mr. Minister, this is a mid-year review to assess performance policies have already been announced and funded.”
The government had already announced a raft of policies when it came into power in 2025, including its 24-hour economy policy, under which it has hinted at building 261 markets in 261 districts within 24 months.
Among the government’s other programs is the Feed Ghana Programme, which includes the Nkokoko Nketenkete sub-policy a government initiative aimed at reducing the country’s dependence on imported poultry.
These and other programs have already been announced, and the Minority is urging government to complete them before moving on to formulate new ones.
Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said, “Any new policy will just be more settings, props and audio announcements, because they are unfunded.”
He said the government is already struggling to fund the policies and promises it has announced, and told the Minister to “desist from the temptation to announce new cities, new policies and new projects.”
He added that a country can only grow when its budgets are used for their intended purposes.
“A country cannot build growth on unspent budgets, unpaid contractors, disputed debt numbers and jobs that exist only on paper,” he said.