Dr. Stephen Amoah, former Deputy Minister of Finance, has stated that Members of Parliament (MPs) from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were part of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government’s decision to take loans to equip the country’s Ministry of Defence.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, 1st March, Dr. Amoah said “The NDC MPs in government today were part of the meetings. If they care to know, you can call Hon. Ato Forson (the current Finance Minister and NDC MP), or speak to all the ranking members, the defence ministry, and find out—we were all involved.”
His comments came in response to President John Mahama’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), delivered in Parliament on Thursday.
During the address, President Mahama revealed that the Ministry of Defence currently has a debt of GH₵3.7 billion.
Dr. Amoah noted that NDC MPs were not opposed to the loan strategy when it was first introduced.
He explained that the loan was taken to equip the Ministry of Defence because “we live in a sub-region where all our neighbours are engaged in conflict, making us highly insecure.”
“The Defence Ministry, through the army authorities, approached the (NPP) government for support… So why would you come and tell the world that we have incurred this debt as if the money was not used for the right purpose?” he added.
Dr. Amoah suggested that the current state of the economy should be addressed more comprehensively, with all political parties acknowledging their role in decisions made during previous administrations.
He criticised President Mahama’s remarks, stating, “How can you talk about money incurred in a ministry without considering what the money was used for? This is highly mischievous.”
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 from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were part of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government's decision to take loans to equip the country's Ministry of Defence.){kind=link}