The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has challenged the government’s claim that it has released 85 percent of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s (MoFA) budget for goods, services, and capital expenditure, describing the figure as misleading and incomplete.
Speaking in a statement, the NPP’s Spokesperson on Food and Agriculture, Hon. Michael Aidoo, accused Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Ampem Nyarko of presenting selective figures that create a false impression about the level of funding provided to the agriculture sector.
According to Mr. Aidoo, the Deputy Minister recently announced that government had released GH¢1.677 billion to MoFA, representing 85 percent of the ministry’s budget for goods and services and capital expenditure.
However, the opposition spokesperson argued that the 85 percent figure was calculated using only a portion of the ministry’s approved budget and excluded major components such as compensation, internally generated funds (IGF), donor support, and foreign-funded allocations.
“The so-called 85 percent is based on a narrow and selective calculation,” Mr. Aidoo stated. “Against MoFA’s full approved 2026 budget of approximately GH¢3.038 billion, the GH¢1.677 billion release represents only about 55.2 percent, not 85 percent.”
He questioned why government would present the figure in a manner that could lead Ghanaians to believe a significantly larger portion of the ministry’s total budget had been released.
Mr. Aidoo also raised concerns over allocations for irrigation infrastructure. He noted that while the Deputy Finance Minister indicated that GH¢110 million had been released for irrigation projects, Parliament had approved only GH¢105 million for that expenditure item.
“How can government release more than Parliament approved without a supplementary budget?” he asked.
The NPP spokesperson further claimed that the expenditure items cited by the Deputy Minister did not add up to the stated GH¢1.677 billion release. According to his calculations, the listed allocations total approximately GH¢1.652 billion, leaving an unexplained difference of about GH¢25.3 million.
He called on the Finance Ministry to provide detailed clarification on the discrepancy, the irrigation allocation, and the methodology used in arriving at the 85 percent figure.
While stressing that the opposition supports investments in agriculture, Mr. Aidoo said accountability and transparency must remain central to public financial management.
“Our farmers need fertilisers, certified seeds, irrigation infrastructure, mechanisation, buffer stock support and investment in the poultry sector,” he said. “But Ghanaians deserve honest accounting, not political packaging.”
Mr. Aidoo also emphasized that budget releases should not be confused with actual spending or project implementation, noting that the release of funds does not automatically translate into completed projects or direct benefits for farmers.
He urged the Finance Ministry to disclose how much of the released funds have actually been spent and what tangible interventions have reached farmers across the country.
The Finance Ministry is yet to publicly respond to the concerns raised by the NPP spokesperson.
This version follows standard news-writing conventions by presenting the allegations and concerns raised by the NPP while attributing all claims to the source and maintaining a neutral tone.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
