Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson is calling for legislation to define which government funds can be frozen through court orders, warning that emergency resources meant to respond to national crises could be rendered inaccessible.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express hours after presenting the Mid-Year Budget to Parliament on Thursday, Dr Forson said the recent freezing of Ghana’s constitutional emergency fund exposed the need for clear legal limits on garnishee orders.

He explained that Ghana has two main contingency funds, including one created under Article 177 of the Constitution.

“Contingency money for the Republic of Ghana. One is a creation of the Constitution, Article 1771 of the Constitution, and this is the only emergency fund the Constitution created for the Republic of Ghana,” he said.

According to him, the fund is controlled by Parliament’s Finance Committee and can only be accessed after approval.

“That fund is under the control of the Finance Committee of Parliament, and so when you create that money, and you pay into that money, when there is an emergency, you have to go to the Finance Committee as Minister of Finance to get approval before you can take money from that contingency fund,” he said.

Dr Forson said the account currently holds ¢500 million at the Bank of Ghana and is reserved for emergencies.

“We have ¢500 million in that account. It’s a permanent account at the Bank of Ghana, and it is there. You go in when there is an emergency, subject to the approval of Parliament, and then you can go and take it,” he added.

He said government also maintains another contingency fund managed by the Finance Minister, which had ¢361 million available.

“Now, when the unfortunate incident happened on June 29, the President directed that I should go to Parliament and ask Parliament to release ¢350 million for disaster mitigation and flood mitigation,” he said.

Dr Forson said Parliament approved the request, but government later discovered that the constitutional contingency fund had been frozen by a High Court order.

“Unfortunately, when I got that approval and instructed the Controller and Accountant General to transfer same to the disaster management committee, we found out that the account, the constitutional fund, the only emergency fund that this republic has, has been garnisheed by a High Court order. Simply put, you can’t access that money,” he stated.

The Finance Minister said he questioned how the country’s main emergency fund could be blocked when it was meant to support citizens during crises.

“I protested, and I said, ‘Hang on a second, are you telling me that the only constitutional emergency fund set aside for the country, for all of us, so that if there is an emergency, government can access those resources to fix it has been garnisheed, and who did that?’” he said.

Dr Forson said the Attorney General was best placed to explain the circumstances surrounding the court order but noted that steps had been taken to challenge it.

He, however, argued that the wider issue required urgent attention.

“I think this issue brings to question the need for us to have legislation to define what can be garnisheed and what cannot be garnisheed, because it is becoming one too many,” he said.

He warned that without regulation, more government funds could face similar challenges.

“Even the consolidated fund can be garnisheed, and so from what I’m saying, if we don’t regulate these garnishee orders through an Act of Parliament, I’m sure it will be out of control,” Dr Forson added.

He said because the constitutional contingency fund was inaccessible, he relied on the contingency vote under his control to release the money for flood mitigation.

“As Minister of Finance, I had ¢361 million in the contingency vote, Parliament, and the request from His Excellency the President was to release ¢350. It is more than enough,” he said.

Dr Forson confirmed that the ¢350 million had already been released.

“It was released that same day. I did that,” he said.