<<Print>>

On Wednesday the 18th of November 2009 the budget statement for the year 2010 will be presented to Parliament by the Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena Duffour. This was confirmed by the majority chief whip Hon. Enoch Teye Mensah in Parliament. Many are the expectations of Ghanaians, all over the nation including the majority and the minority in parliament. In an interview with some students at some universities in the country about their expectations of the budget statement on education come Wednesday, they said they are hoping that government would invest more finances into the education budget so that their accommodation problems would become a thing of the past. Some were also of the view that government would subsidize their fees so that even the poor can also have access to university education without any difficulty. Public Agenda spoke to people across the social divide on the budget's input into health. Most of these people were unanimous about the one-time Premium National Health Insurance (NHIS) payment. According to these concerned citizens, they pray that NHIS will be implemented as soon as possible, because the Mills Government promised in the 2009 budget statement, read by Dr. Duffuor earlier in the year to tackle this. Unfortunately, nothing has come out of it so far. Others said that they expect the NHIS to cover the treatments of all manner of sicknesses. In an interview with some members of Parliament on their expectations for the 2010 budget, the Member of Parliament for Asikuma Odoben Brakwa, Hon. Paul Collins Appiah-Ofori, said that he is expecting the NDC government to increase the budgetary allocation for education. "Development depends on educated citizens," he stated. He expressed the hope that by making provision for adequate funding for education, it can be accessible and available to all and sundry. Mr. Appiah-Ofori also emphasized that he looked forward to the School Feeding Programme to be well funded. On health, the MP for Asikuma Odoben Brakwa said that 'life depends on health', and hoped that the NDC government will continue the implementation of the NHIS from where the NPP government left off, in order to make easy access to health. The Member of Parliament for Manhyia, Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, said he hoped that this time round the government would implement what it promises. According to him, about 80% of what the government promised in the 2009 budget has not yet been implemented. He added that he would scrutinize the 2010 budget with eagle eyes and support the government where they excelled. The Hon. Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Dr.Kofi Asare, told this reporter that he hoped the budget would look at the one-time premium of the NHIS and also raise the allocation to the health budget. The deputy minority chief whip Hon. Eugenia Kusi, on the other hand, said she is not expecting anything new from the budget. 'The economy is in jeopardy' she said, since the NDC had not been able to achieve whatever they promised to do. Unfortunately, members of the ruling government, the NDC Members of Parliament, either refused or were not available to comment on their expectations of the 2010 budget.