The Minister of State-designate for Finance, Abena Osei Asare, has stated that the recent memo from the Finance Ministry indicating the economic impact should the president assent to the Anti-LGBTQ Bill, was not an advice to the president. According to her, the memo was a result of the ministry’s internal evaluation of possible implications if the bill is assented to.
The Member of Parliament for Atiwa East made this known during her vetting by the Appointment Committee of Parliament.
“This was an internal memo, just like a normal management meeting where we looked at our expenditures and then we also looked at our revenues. Upon the passage of the bill by the House, of which I am a member, we heard certain sentiments from certain stakeholders, so what we sought to do was to see how best we could address any revenue gap issue should they arise as a result of the passage of this bill, that was what we sought to do. It was an internal memo. It was not a memo that was to be sent out outside,” she told the committee.
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She has also assured the Appointment Committee of Parliament that there are no plans underway to reintroduce the road tolls.
“The suspension of the road tolls was a political decision. It was a decision taken by the government and I cannot take myself out of it because I am part of the government and I need to take responsibility as such. Mr Chairman, the document that spelt out the vision for the government in 2024 is the budget so we are working with the budget and in the budget for 2024, I do not think we have introduced any line item for road tolls so it remains as such,” she added.
After Parliament passed the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Act (Act 2024), discussion and petitions abound. Some of them beseech the president to assent to the bill as soon as possible while others implore the president to defer assent to the bill describing it (the bill) as unconstitutional.
READ ALSO: Citi FM’s Richard Sky Sues Parliament Over Passage of Anti-LGBTQ Bill
Amidst the debate came a memo from the Finance Ministry stipulating the cost to the nation if the president assented to the bill. In the document, the Finance Ministry warned that Ghana could lose approximately 3.8 billion dollars in the next five to six years should the president sign the controversial Anti-LGBTQ Bill.
The president has however expressed his stance indicating that he will await the outcome of a suit at the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the bill.
READ ALSO: Supreme Court’s Ruling Will Precede My Decision on Anti-LGBTQ Bill – Nana Akufo-Addo
