BY Daniel Bampoe
A major controversy has hit the 2026 Budget after the Minority in Parliament, led by Alexander Afenyo-Markin, alleged that the government recycled large sections of old budget documents, including the names of two ministries that no longer exist under the current administration.
The Minority claims that these revelations expose deep flaws in the newly presented budget by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.
According to Afenyo-Markin, the Finance Minister included detailed reports on the Ministry of Railway Development and the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources—two ministries that President John Mahama formally scrapped when he assumed office in 2025.
Their functions were absorbed into other sectors as part of a broader restructuring and downsizing exercise aimed at reducing government expenditure.
The Minority argues that the presence of these abolished ministries in the 2026 Budget is not an error but a clear sign that portions of the document were copied directly from past budgets prepared under former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta during the Akufo-Addo administration.
Afenyo-Markin accused the government of negligence, saying the Finance Minister and his team failed to properly review the document before laying it before Parliament.
“This budget exposes a lazy copy-and-paste job. How can ministries that Mahama abolished appear in your own 2026 budget? It means you copied old paragraphs and did not even read what you submitted,” the Minority Leader charged.
He added that this discovery casts doubt on the authenticity and originality of significant portions of the document, raising questions about who actually authored the budget.
“Judging from this, one can conclude that they didn’t write several parts of the budget. No wonder they only achieved 40.5% of the 2025 budget. Expectations for 2026 must be lowered,” he insisted.
Sections of the Budget Under Question
The controversial sections provide progress reports on major infrastructure projects originally introduced under the previous NPP administration. These include:
Railway Development
Completion of civil works on the 97-kilometre Tema–Mpakadan Railway Line, with final testing ongoing and full commissioning expected in 2026. In reality the railway line has been commissioned and in full operation.
Seventy percent (70%) progress on the Western Line rehabilitation, including new stations at Tarkwa, Bogoso, and Huni Valley.
Sanitation and Water Resources
National rural water coverage at 78% and urban water supply at 93% as of September 2025.
Completion of 410 new boreholes and 37 small-town water systems under the Community Water and Sanitation Agency.
Continued work in 2026 on the Sekondi–Takoradi and Sunyani Water Supply Projects, expected to benefit 1.2 million people.
Ghana Water Company’s daily production reaching 351 million gallons, supported by rehabilitation works at the Kpong and Weija treatment plants.
These entries, the Minority insists, are identical to earlier budget texts from Ofori-Atta’s tenure, proving that the current administration did not update or verify the material.
Dissolution of the Two Ministries
President Mahama, during his restructuring of government in 2025, abolished several ministries to eliminate duplication and reduce administrative costs.
The Ministry of Railway Development was merged into the broader Transport Ministry.
The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources had its functions reassigned to Works and Housing and Local Government.
The restructured system was intended to streamline operations—but the reappearance of these ministries in the budget has now triggered questions about the competence of the current economic management team.
Growing Concerns Over Budget Credibility
The Minority has vowed to challenge the Finance Minister on how such outdated, obsolete references made their way into a national fiscal document presented to Parliament.
He called for a properly prepared, factually accurate budget, insisting that the current document be withdrawn and resubmitted for parliamentary approval.
Galamsey GoldBod
At the same time, he accused the National Democratic Congress government of enabling illegal mining through its support of the Gold Board (GoldBod).
Afenyo-Markin took aim at GoldBod, the government agency mandated to purchase gold from artisanal and small-scale miners.
He alleged that the budget’s provisions effectively endorse illegal mining by allowing GoldBod to buy gold without proper verification or traceability, thereby financing galamsey activities.
“This government has surrendered to galamsey activities. Instead of fighting illegal mining, it has become its enabler,” he stated.
Highlighting the human cost of the government’s alleged inaction, Afenyo-Markin recalled the deaths of eight personnel of the National Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (NAIMOS) during an operation to combat illegal mining.
He criticized the government for failing to demonstrate the commitment and seriousness necessary to protect those on the frontlines.
“Today, their own government is demonstrating neither seriousness nor commitment. Setting up GoldBod to buy gold from miners it cannot trace is designed for complicity rather than enforcement,” he added.
The GoldBod was established to stabilize the gold market and formalize small-scale mining, its current operations have sparked controversy.
But the Minority argue that purchasing gold without proper monitoring may worsen environmental degradation and embolden illegal miners, undermining efforts to combat galamsey.
The Minority’s dual criticism of the 2026 Budget and GoldBod reflects broader political and environmental concerns in Ghana. With the government positioning the budget as its roadmap for economic recovery and policy reforms, opposition lawmakers, civil society organizations, and environmental advocates are expected to intensify calls for accountability and reforms that ensure both fiscal discipline and effective regulation of the mining sector.
