Government must submit programme documents for its initiatives to Parliament – Oppong Nkrumah

The Ranking Member on the Economy and Development Committee of Parliament, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has denounced the government for withholding policy documents on flagship programmes, including the 24-hour economy.

This omission, he argues, compromises parliamentary oversight, and contradicts reports of a presidential directive mandating ministers to present programme documents.

The Majority Leader had suggested that programme details were comprehensively addressed in committee.

Nonetheless, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah maintains that Parliament has yet to scrutinise documents for any of the 11 government programmes, despite substantial funding appropriations.

“This government has launched 11 programmes & initiatives but not even one of them has had the programme document brought before Parliament for oversight. We don’t need to run away from it,” he told journalists on Sunday, October 26, 2025 in Accra.

Mr. Oppong Nkrumah further said his “intelligence suggests that it’s been discussed at the Cabinet and the President has instructed that the ministers bring the programme documents to Parliament…”

He wants government to immediately submit the programme documents “so that the work of oversight can start.”

“I can take you through the list: The One Million Coders Programme; The 24 Hour Economy Programme; The Jobs Export Programme; The Adwumawura Programme; The National Apprenticeship Programme; The Tree for Life Programme; Accra Reset Programme; The One Child One Tree Initiative; The Ghana Infrastructure Plan; The Free Tertiary for Persons with Disability and then The No-Fee-Stress Policy….”

“These are about 11 programmes that the government has launched and our argument is that not one of them has had a programme document that tells you, what is the target, what is the selection criteria, what is the result framework, what are the key performance indicators, so that you can exercise oversight,” he argued.

In his opinion, submitting the documents would not exclusively benefit Members of Parliament.

“Are you, as media representatives, aware of the specifics, even if we, as Members of Parliament, are not? Do Civil Society members and the general public have access to this information? How can an ordinary citizen become informed?”

“It is therefore imperative that the programme documents be properly laid before parliament to facilitate the oversight function.”