The South Dayi Member of Parliament (MP), Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has said that the government is not being sensitive to the plights of Ghanaians through its budgetary allocations.

He says the executive has not shown any commitment to reducing its expenditure because more presidential staffers are being appointed, a situation he reckons has increased the government's wage bill.

In an interview on Joy Prime's Prime Morning on Wednesday, Mr Dafeamekpor noted that "there is very little fiscal space for expansion [in the 2022 budget].

He wants the expenditure of the Presidency to be reduced to reflect the country's current economic conditions.

"Government is going to spend in excess of GH¢30 billion on servicing existing debts. Out of that, they are going to spend about GH¢7 billion in interest payment. The other component is that they are spending in excess of another GH¢35 billion on wages."

"You expect government to reduce the number of presidential staffers it appoints but the presidency is still top-heavy because you check from the budget and they are still recruiting more presidential staffers; so, it doesn’t give you hope that this is a government that is thinking of cutting down costs in terms of operating the executive," he told Benjamin Akakpo.

The more I process the e-Levy, the angrier I get. It is a complete rip off. It is a taxation ponzi scheme designed to tax d same value of money multiple times. It is plain government thievery & I cannot vote to approve a budget that has that levy included. No! 🦁 @zanetorofficial

— Sam 'Dzata' George (@samgeorgegh) November 20, 2021

According to him, all attempts to demand an audit of government's past expenditures have proved futile.

"Last year, the allocation to the office of government machinery was about GH¢2.3 billion. This year, it’s about GH¢3.3 billion. That’s a very serious matter. How much do they intend to spend on used tax, is it not GH¢1 billion? So that is the equivalence."

"Within a year, government is allocating an increase in expenditure for the presidency by a billion and they say government is telling the country that it intends to expend only a billion on developing one million young entrepreneurs; the picture should be glaring," he added.

Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor posited that "if they are not intended to increase presidential staffers, we’ll have one billion from there to be able to do this without borrowing."

Some members of the Minority in Parliament have already said they will not support the government in the implementation of the 2022 budget, especially the proposed new taxes and tariffs.

Ningo-Prampram MP Sam George, who has described portions of the budget and proposed taxes as "a complete rip off," says he would not partake in the exercise that would lead to the approval of the budget in its current state.