The new loan was not approved unanimously by Parliament - MP.
Richard Acheampong, a member of Parliament's Finance Committee, has accused the Majority caucus of using the absence of Minority members to approve some loans.
The Bia East Member of Parliament (MP) stated that the Majority caucus waited for his party to go on election campaigns before recalling parliament for loan approval.
"I'm stating for the record that the loans approved in parliament on Tuesday were already referred to the finance committee and agreed upon." However, due to some disagreements, the loans were not brought to the floor for a vote.
"Also, because the NPP did not have the numbers, they waited for us to go for our campaigns towards the upcoming primaries next week and did the recall," he explained.
The loans were approved by the Finance Committee, according to the lawmaker, because the Minority caucus was outnumbered by the Majority caucus.
"According to the committee report, it was a majority decision, implying that the minority caucus does not support the government's decision to take such loans in these difficult economic times and in light of Ghana's massive debt."
"On the finance committee, there are 13 members of the majority caucus and 12 members of the minority caucus. The 13 voted in favor of the loans, while the 12 voted against it. That is why the committee informed the House that it was a majority decision rather than a consensus. If we had all agreed, the report would have stated that the committee has recommended for the approval of its report by consensus," he explained on Accra-based Neat FM.
Mr Acheampong stated that, in addition to Ghana's massive debt, his side opposed the loans due to unresolved issues relating to the government's mismanagement of Covid-19 funds and fund diversions in the Auditor General's reports.
"We have not resolved the issues concerning the Covid-19 expenditure and the inconsistencies in the Auditor-General's report." What guarantee do you have that you will use the money for its intended purpose if you can't account for it properly?"
"Covid is no longer as serious as it once was on a local and global scale, so how do you go for a loan in the name of Covid when you indirectly want forex for your forex reserves because you have depleted them all?" The government is not being truthful with Ghanaians, despite the fact that there is no emergency Covid situation for us to handle."
On Tuesday, May 2, 2023, Parliament approved seven separate loan agreements totaling $780 million for various interventions.
Ghana's debt stock is estimated to be around 600 billion cedis, and has been cited as a key factor in the country's current economic crisis.
But to Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the number of loan agreements that keep coming to the House is simply not worthy of approvals and is just avoidable.
Former Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, also suggested there should be an immediate introduction of a debt ceiling to curb government’s excessive borrowing.
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