This is a “lazily prepared” budget — Afenyo-Markin slams 2026 allocation

Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has criticized the 2026 budget allocation for the roads and transport sector, describing it as “a very lazily prepared budget” that lacked proper scrutiny before being presented to Parliament.

Contributing to the debate on the Committee’s report on the Floor of Parliament on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, the Minority Leader said the government appeared to have merely “bandied around figures” without applying due diligence, stressing that inconsistencies and unexplained allocations raise serious concerns about the document’s credibility.

He questioned how the government could claim to have made significant payments to contractors under the newly launched “Big Push” programme barely a month after its announcement.

“You launch Big Push, you say you’ve made payment to contractors under Big Push in less than a month. Mr. Speaker, this can be nothing less than a very lazily prepared budget,” he said.

According to him, the allocations some reportedly exceeding GH¢7 billion do not align with the timelines or stated progress of the programme, further demonstrating what he believes is a lack of internal review by the majority side.

“It appears this budget was never scrutinized… You come to this Parliament, you didn’t scrutinize. You mean you didn’t read your own budget,” he added.

Afenyo-Markin stressed that the quality of governance and the success of the administration depend significantly on rigorous oversight, particularly from the Minority.

He criticised the Majority’s 189 MPs for failing to detect the inconsistencies before the document reached the floor of Parliament.

He urged members to be more vigilant and ready to raise points of order when figures presented do not add up, cautioning that such inaccuracies ultimately become part of the official records of the House.