A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Upper East Regional Communications Team, Mr. Joseph Abonenga, has strongly criticized portions of the proposed expenditure of the Ministry of Communications and Digitization, describing some allocations as excessive and difficult to justify amid the country’s current economic challenges.
Speaking on BlueWaves Breakfast Show on Monday, Mr. Abonenga questioned the ministry’s decision to allocate what he described as a “whopping” GH¢50 million for monitoring and supervision activities under some of its programmes.
According to him, while monitoring and supervision remain important components of government projects, the amount earmarked for that purpose appears disproportionate, especially at a time when many Ghanaians are struggling with economic hardship and public institutions are in need of critical resources.
“Our opposition is the need for us to, at this material point in time, spend GH¢50 million just for monitoring and supervision purposes,” he stated.
He argued that the amount goes beyond reasonable administrative expenditure, insisting that the government must prioritize direct investments that will have visible impacts on citizens, particularly students and beneficiaries of digital training initiatives.
“You see, it is not GH¢1 million, it is not GH¢2 million, but a whopping GH¢50 million just for monitoring purposes and all of that,” Mr. Abonenga emphasized during the discussion.
The NPP communicator further disclosed that the ministry had already made separate provisions amounting to GH¢10 million for the procurement of vehicles to support officials in the discharge of their duties, making it difficult, in his view, to justify the additional GH¢50 million allocation.
“Someone may say that as part of their supervision duties they may need vehicles and logistics, but it will interest you to know that the ministry has already made provisions to the tune of GH¢10 million for vehicles,” he noted.
Mr. Abonenga maintained that the huge amount allocated for monitoring could have been redirected into more impactful interventions within the communications and digitization sector.
According to him, the funds are not being used to procure laptops for students expected to benefit from digital training programmes, nor are they being used to establish training centres or provide internet data access for trainees.
“This GH¢50 million we are talking about is not being used to procure laptops for students who are expected to go through these programmes. It is not being used to provide training centres for them. It is not equally being used to provide access to data, but rather just for monitoring and supervision,” he argued.
He also raised concerns over another proposed allocation of GH¢5.2 million for consultancy services related to efforts aimed at bridging Net LTE with Vodafone.
According to him, the consultancy expenditure raises questions about value for money and whether such technical engagements could not be handled internally or at a reduced cost.
“There is also GH¢5.2 million just for consultancy fees regarding efforts to bridge Net LTE with Vodafone,” he added.
Mr. Abonenga called for greater transparency and prudent use of public funds, stressing that government expenditure must reflect the immediate needs of citizens and contribute directly to national development.
His comments come amid growing public discussions over government spending, fiscal discipline, and the prioritization of projects under Ghana’s digital transformation agenda.
Source: BlueWaves Radio 93.7Fm / Maurice Duncan/ Bolgatanga
