Abena Osei-Asare, the MP for Atiwa East and former Deputy Finance Minister, has delivered a strong critique of the government’s 2026 Budget. She warned that the budget lacks credibility, includes inconsistent data, and fails to provide real solutions to Ghana’s economic challenges.
Speaking during the budget debate in Parliament on Tuesday, Osei-Asare stated that the figures presented by the government contradict its own claims regarding growth, job creation, and economic transformation. She dismissed the government’s growth forecasts as contradictory and unrealistic, highlighting the discrepancies between the half-year data and the projected end-of-year figures.
“The half-year growth is 6.3 percent, yet you claim that end-of-year growth will be 4.8 percent. How is that possible? If this budget is truly meant to reset the economy, why are your numbers declining?” she questioned.
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Additionally, she compared Ghana’s growth projections with those of other ECOWAS countries, noting, “Benin is expected to grow at 7 percent, and Côte d’Ivoire at 6.4 percent. Meanwhile, after adding nearly GH¢50 billion in expenditure, Ghana’s growth is projected to increase only from 4.8 to 4.9 percent. It simply does not add up.”
The former Deputy Finance Minister criticised the government’s inability to deliver on major infrastructure commitments, especially the Accra–Kumasi highway.
She noted that commuters spend up to eight hours on a journey that should take four, describing the delays as unacceptable.
“You cannot delay such a major road to 2027 while claiming you have funding for new projects that have not even begun,” she stressed.
Hon. Osei-Asare accused the government of misleading Ghanaians about its flagship 24-hour economy initiative. According to her, the figures in the budget contradict themselves: “On one page it says GH¢19 million, on another it says GH¢110 million. Even the numbers in the budget don’t agree.”
She questioned the seriousness of the initiative, given the low allocation of funding.
“If you truly believe in one job, three people, three shifts, why is the funding so small? This is merely talk, not implementation,” she queried.
The Atiwa East MP condemned the government’s allocation toward the fight against illegal mining, arguing that it does not match the severity of the crisis.
Despite the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources receiving GH¢2.1 billion, she said only GH¢150 million is allocated to the agency leading the battle against galamsey.
“If illegal mining threatens the very survival of Ghanaians, allocating only 0.003% of the total budget to fight it is indefensible. We are on a battlefield armed with plastic chairs instead of ammunition. This is not a survival budget; it is merely words,” she lamented.
Osei-Asare urged the government to establish a fully funded Galamsey Emergency Programme, noting that even President Mahama has admitted more funding is needed.
“If the President himself said bigger funding is required, why did he not advise the Minister to allocate more?”
While welcoming the creation of a new Value for Money Office, the MP questioned why the government was duplicating the functions of the existing Public Procurement Authority (PPA).
“Transformation does not always require new offices; sometimes it only requires strengthening existing institutions,” she argued.
Osei-Asare concluded that the 2026 Budget fails to reflect its own promises. “If you say the budget is about growth, jobs, and transformation, then the numbers must reflect that. But they don’t. The budget lacks credibility, and the allocations do not tell the story the Minister claims.”