Parliament has approved the sum of GH₵110,357,163.00 for the activities of the Attorney-General and the Ministry of Justice for the 2018 fiscal year.
Presenting the report of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on the floor of the House, the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Alexander Abban observed that the budgetary allocation for the Ministry is inadequate.
He said the Committee found that while the Ministry submitted a total request of GH₵198,944,803.15 to implement critical activities in 2018, an amount of GH₵110,357,163.00 has been allocated to it by the Ministry of Finance.
He noted that this amount is considered inadequate in view of the persistent funding challenges that the Ministry continues to contend with.
Mr. Abban said it was also found that in most cases, funds approved for the Ministry was not released on time. He added that this creates a situation where activities are carried over to another year because of lack of funds.
He intimated that the dire circumstances had sometimes caused the Ministry to solicit financial assistance from the Register-General’s Department and sometimes institutions outside the sector to deal with some of the issues.
He stated that the Committee therefore strongly recommends to the Minister of Finance to consider additional funding for the Ministry. He added that the Minister should also ensure timely releases of funds to enable the justice sector institutions discharge their mandate effectively and efficiently.
Source: Ghanajustice/N. Cudjoe
