The 2014 Budget Statement read by the Finance Minister, Mr Seth Terkper, last Tuesday has largely been greeted with mixed reactions, with a section of Ghanaians saying they have heard nothing new.
They, however, gave thumps up for the decision to cut the salaries of the President and his ministers.
The indifference that most Ghanaians have attached to the reading of the country’s annual budget, which affects all, no matter our political affiliation or creed, generally flows from the challenges of eking out a living in recent times.
Each year the budget has introduced new taxes, while lowering or scrapping those that have been unpopular with Ghanaians.
The Daily Graphic, however, finds that much as governments may have good intentions concerning the policies and plans outlined in each budget, the main crux of economic management has always been left out.
Managers of the many funds (most of them loans) released by the government for projects have been poorly monitored and although some of those funds have gone down the drain, we have had to pay the loans, plus interest, with tax money.
We believe that the lack of prudent disbursement and utilisation of our resources by public officials charged with various projects and programmes and the absence of sanctions for misapplication and mismanagement have contributed immeasurably to our economic woes.
Corruption has been on the lips of many in recent times and it has been largely blamed for our present economic woes.
Revelations from the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament and the Judgement Debt Commission and reports of shady contracts in the media have exposed our capacity as a state to deal with corruption.
Sadly, though, in spite of all the astounding revelations, there are no records or accounts of officials who have been made to face the music for mishandling the public purse.
The Daily Graphic finds this trend very worrying, in that it has the propensity to encourage more financial malfeasance among public officials.
We dare say that unless the government empowers agencies such as the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to bring to book all culprits and retrieve all funds lost to the state through misappropriation, Ghana as a country could go round in circles for non-existent remedies to its economic conundrums.
In fact, these bodies require absolute autonomy to be able to discharge their duties without fear or favour.
Let us plug all the financial loopholes and cut our coat according to our cloth. It is only then that the theme for the 2014 budget, “Rising to the Challenge: Re-aligning the Budget to meet Key National Priorities”, would become meaningful to all Ghanaians.
