The Minority in Parliament has levelled serious accusations against President John Dramani Mahama, alleging that his administration is systematically starving Ghana’s agricultural sector of funds in a move they say amounts to a deliberate attempt to collapse the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Dr. Isaac Yaw Opoku, Member of Parliament for Offinso South and ranking member on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Agriculture, made the allegations during a minority caucus engagement with farmers at Tromenso in the Wenchi constituency in the Bono Region.
Dr. Opoku told the gathering that the 2025 national budget allocated only GH₵2.9 billion to the agricultural ministry a figure he and his colleagues in the minority described as grossly inadequate for a sector that employs millions of Ghanaians and underpins food security across the country.
“By September, the government had released only 16% of the already meagre allocation effectively crippling the ministry’s operations.”
The ranking member said the consequences of the chronic underfunding are visible on the ground: a minister who launches project after project with little or no follow-through. He cited the Nkoko nkitenkite initiative as a glaring example of a government programme announced with fanfare but left to wither without the financial backing needed for implementation.
Dr. Opoku also directed sharp criticism at the government’s failure to honour its pledge to release GH₵200 million for the purchase of maize buffer stocks. He said the non-disbursement had left farmers across the country in a precarious situation, unable to sell their produce at viable prices and struggling to recoup their investments ahead of the next planting season.
Ranking member Dr. Isaac Yaw Opoku says only 16% of the ministry’s already slim GH₵2.9 billion budget has been released paralyzing operations and leaving farmers in distress.
The government has not yet issued an official response to the allegations. The minority’s campaign is widely seen as an effort to mobilise farming communities ahead of future political contests, but the concerns raised around budget releases and unfulfilled pledges are expected to intensify scrutiny on the agriculture minister in the coming weeks.