The Majority Leader of Parliament Hon Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has described the decision by the Minority side of the House to oppose the recent approval of a loan agreement between Ghana and its development partners as hypocritical.
According to him, the loan agreements were discussed thoroughly at the committee level with the Minority supporting it and so it was surprising to see the same group opposing it at the plenary level.
Hon Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu said this in an interview with Captain Koda on the Kumasi-based OTEC 102.9 FM’s morning show Nyansapo on Wednesday, May 3, 2023.
Parliament on Tuesday reconvened for an urgent business and approved seven loan agreements totaling $750 million to enhance public sector reforms, food security, COVID-19 response measures and digital acceleration agenda.
The facilities, which were approved during the emergency sitting, were an on-lending agreement between the Government of Ghana (GoG) and the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group for an amount of $150 million to finance the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme phase two under the Multipurpose Programme Approach.
The Minority caucus prior to the final approval of the loan facility however said they were not in support of the decision.
The Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, said that given the enormous impact of loans on the country, he did not think it was time for the government to take additional loans.
He said Ghana was currently insolvent and had defaulted in the repayment of its external and domestic debts.
Hon Kyei Mensah Bonsu maintained that the loan agreements, which had been on the books already, were supposed to have been approved by the House before it adjourned sine die on March 31, 2023.
He noted that the approval of the loan agreements was in the good interest of the country
