Mahama Is Talk & Do President–Ayariga

**Mahama Ayariga, Majority Leader**

The Majority Leader in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, praised the 2025 budget. He called President John Dramani Mahama a "Talk-and-Do President."

“He promised to abolish the e-Levy, and it is gone. He also removed the Betting tax. Emission levies are scrapped as well,” he stated. “This is a President who delivers on his promises.”

**Key Reforms and Fiscal Policies**

During the budget debate on March 25, 2025, Mr. Ayariga highlighted key policy measures. These include reducing government spending and streamlining governance structures.

“President Mahama pledged to reduce government size, and he is delivering,” he said. Ministries will be cut from 30 to 23. The number of ministers will drop from 88 to 60.

He noted that eliminating development authorities would reduce bureaucracy and duplication of roles. “This budget prioritizes efficiency over waste,” he emphasized.

The capping of the GETFund will be removed. Schools lacking resources will now receive necessary funding.

**Energy Crisis and Infrastructure Development**

Mr. Ayariga described the energy sector as being in major crisis due to neglect under the NPP government. He assured that the Mahama-led administration would restore stability.

“John Dramani Mahama promised to fix the energy crisis, and we are addressing it,” he explained. The Ghana Gold Board will stabilize the cedi.

Unfreezing key funds like the National Health Insurance Levy will help critical infrastructure projects.

He challenged opposition claims that the budget lacked innovation, calling it creative and well-thought-out.

“The wisdom and creativity behind this budget are unparalleled,” he asserted.

**Mismanagement under NPP**

Mr. Ayariga criticized the previous NPP administration for financial recklessness leading to state-owned enterprises' collapse.

“It’s on record that a 2022 audit report showed losses over GHC 60 million.” Today, losses have ballooned to over GHC 70 billion due to poor decisions made in eight years.

He cited examples like Ghana Water Company and Tema Oil Refinery as once-profitable entities now insolvent under NPP management.

“In 2016, Ghana Water Company had a profit of GHC 2.4 billion,” he noted. By 2023, these companies were recording massive losses.

“This is the mess President Mahama has to clean up,” he added.

**Prosecution of Former Officials**

Mr. Ayariga called for legal action against former officials involved in fraudulent transactions.

“We lost GHC 720 million due to Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML).” A KPMG audit revealed misuse of GHC 720 million from e-Levy funds.

“This is clear criminal mismanagement; there must be prosecutions,” he insisted.

He accused former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta of benefiting from Eurobond transactions between 2018 and 2021 through his private bank.

“In total, his bank earned $9.2 million in fees during this period.”

He also pointed out issues with an ECG contract with Huptel involving unnecessary expenditures worsening ECG's financial woes.

“GHC589 million could have cleared ECG's debts instead of being wasted,” he added.

**Restoring Control over the Economy**

Mr. Ayariga warned that Ghana lost control over its financial sector due to indigenous banks' collapse caused by poor decisions from NPP leaders.

“When you lose control over finance, you lose control over your economy.” The banking sector cleanup cost Ghana GHC30 billion instead of just GHC6 billion needed initially.

He emphasized that the 2025 budget aims to restore economic sovereignty for Ghanaian institutions’ future control over finances.


**Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson**

Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson described the budget as “people-centered.” It aims at addressing deep socio-economic challenges in Ghana.

“This budget provides hope for all Ghanaians," he said.

Dr. Ato Forson urged Parliament to support all accompanying bills for effective implementation of the budget.