Minister of State for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has refuted claims by the Minority caucus that GHS78 million was allocated solely to his office, clarifying that the funds are designated for three longstanding state agencies under his supervision.
On Thursday, March 13, the Minority criticized the budgetary allocation for government communication, led by Kwakye Ofosu and deputized by Shamima Muslim, questioning the justification for such a substantial expenditure.
Tano North Member of Parliament, Gideon Boako, expressed his concerns to journalists, stating:
“We have government communication headed by Felix Ofosu Kwakye, deputized by Shamima Muslim. Let’s say they have two or three research assistants helping them, scrolling through social media and GhanaWeb to see what is happening there to respond—they are giving them a goods and services budget of GHS8.8 million.”
“Maybe they will use some to buy internet data to go to the internet to respond to what the Minority is saying, and they are giving them GHS70 million, making GHS78.8 million,” he added.
However, speaking on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News, Kwakye Ofosu dismissed these claims, emphasizing that the allocation was not for his personal office.
“Let me put it on record that my office has not been allocated GHS78 million. It is the three agencies under my purview who have been given GHS8.8 million in goods and services allocation and GHS70 million in capital expenditure allocation,” he stated.
He further highlighted that the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), the Information Services Department (ISD), and the Ghana News Agency (GNA) are established institutions with a long history of public service.
“GBC, the Information Services Department, and GNA are long-standing state agencies. ISD has been in existence for 85 years, same as GBC, same as GNA. So it is not like they are new creations that President Mahama has made,” he explained.
Kwakye Ofosu reiterated that the GHS78 million allocation is strictly for the operations of these agencies, not his office.
“GHS78 million has been allocated to them for goods and services, not my office,” he clarified.