Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has justified why the Roads Minister suspended the collection of the tolls when Parliament had not approved the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the government.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta presenting the 2022 budget of the government in Parliament announced that motorists who ply public roads nationwide will no longer be required to pay road tolls after the budget has been approved.
However, prior to the approval of the budget, the Roads Minister in a statement on Monday directed that toll collection at the various toll booths across the country should be halted effective Thursday, November 18, 2021.
The road Minister has been criticized for this decision and for what some has described as a breach of Parliament’s regulations.
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, speaking to this in a one-on-one discussion on Peace FM’s morning show ‘Kokrokoo’ program said the Minister had “administrative” right to do such.
According to him, even though the constitution says you should go to parliament when introducing a new charge, “if Parliament has given you powers to introduce a charge and you want to suspend that charge, administratively you can do so without going to Parliament”.
Source|peacefmonline.com|osimpamfm.com|Richard Owusu Tawiah
