Protection programmes for the vulnerable a conduit for election overspending by Gov’t, says Prof Lord Mensah, Prof John Gatsi
Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Professor Lord Mensah and Dean of the School of Business at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Prof John Gatsi, have averred that one area that is likely to be used as an avenue for election overspending is protection programmes for the vulnerable in society.
This is despite the Government being under an IMF programme.
According to Prof Lord Mensah and Prof John Gatsi, the vulnerable in society are protected under and IMF programme and the Fund usually welcomes Government expenditure in the form of social interventions or programmes to mitigate the burden of the IMF’s macroeconomic policies on vulnerable persons.
“Election overspending can go into protecting the vulnerable which the IMF programme is in favour of and also tries to protect.
“But a lot of spending going into that area can derail the economy and the gains made so far,” remarked Prof Lord Mensah speaking during the NorvanReports and Economic Governance Platform X Space Discussion themed, “Analyzing Ghana’s Agreement With External Commercial Creditors: The Impact on the Economy in an Election Year.”
“Most election year expenditures do not come from the budget but outside the budget particularly in programmes that have to do with the vulnerable and so it is usually difficult to safeguard expenditure in an election year even under an IMF programme.
“For instance, the Government will make more expenditure in the form of disbursement to beneficiaries of LEAP, but do we really know who these beneficiaries are, and besides the LEAP doesn’t properly profile the poor as recently the GSS noted that over 850,000 Ghanaians have been pushed below the poverty line,” he quipped.
Speaking further, Prof John Gatsi averred that Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the media should demand accountability from the Government on expenditures it makes on programmes aimed at vulnerable persons.
“CSOs and the media should be very hard on the Government and hold the Government accountable to monies it spends in that area as it can be a conduit for the Government to spend unnecessarily,” he added.
Ghana is known to usually overspend during electioneering years resulting in major fiscal slippages.
This is even after the country has made significant strides in fiscal consolidation and revenue enhancement in the years prior to the election year.
