'Bye bye' - Minority MPs hoot at Ken Ofori-Atta after 2024 budget presentation

The presentation lasted for about two hours and was unusually marred by heckling from the minority side of the legislature to show disagreement with some of the content of the budget statement.

Immediately after the end of the presentation, the singing of pre-composed songs to downplay the budget statement overwhelmed the House of Parliament and speaker Alban Bagbin had a tough time restoring order. He was compelled to threaten to crack the whip on lawmakers who flout the standing orders.

While sitting in the company of the Majority leader, Osei Kye-Mensah-Bonsua and his deputy, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, and facing the minority side directly, Ofori-Atta, wearing white kaftan as usual, is seen with his head bowed down while the minority MPs chant “bye bye”, with uniform gestures suggesting that he should go away.

According to the National Democratic Congress MPs, instead of inspiring hope, the budget has rather spelt doom for the country. They claim that the finance minister and the New Patriotic Party government inherited a healthy and growing economy but are leaving behind a dead one.

Meanwhile, Afenyo-Markin rejected the minority’s claims, saying the current government has handled the economy better than it inherited it from the erstwhile Mahama-led NDC.

A proper debate on the budget is expected to unfold in the coming days, and the majority side of the house has indicated its preparedness to face off their minority counterparts who have threatened a “showdown.”