Fuseini Issah questions credibility of 2027 budget, demands accountability for past promises

Former Okaikwei North Member of Parliament Fuseini Issah has questioned the credibility of the 2027 Budget, arguing that the government has failed to account for several commitments made in previous budgets.

He said the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, continued to make new promises without adequately explaining what had happened to earlier ones.

The former lawmaker made the remarks on Accra-based Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme on Friday, November 13, while reacting to the 2027 Budget Statement presented to Parliament on Thursday.

He cited the proposed Women Development Bank, which he said was promised in the 2026 Budget but had again been listed for operationalisation in 2027.

According to him, President John Mahama had earlier announced the initiative during a visit to Kotokraba Market, where he interacted with some women traders and promised them access to affordable funding for their businesses.

“Yesterday there was another promise on the Women Development Bank that it was going to be operationalised next year. This is the Finance Minister and the government we are talking about,” he said.

Mr Issah also questioned the government's claims about job creation, including an expected 160,000 jobs through joint development partnerships.

The former MP also questioned the implementation of the Big Push infrastructure programme, recalling a previous commitment to provide GH¢30 billion for road and bridge projects.

He cautioned Ghanaians against celebrating budgetary allocations without demanding evidence that the funds had actually been released and used for their intended purposes.

“Budgeting for something and saying this is the resources I'm going to allocate to a sector is very different from the disbursements,” he said.