Martin Amidu former Ghana Special Prosecutor has said, the level of the arrogance and impunity of power exhibited by this government led to the rejection of the 2022 Budget. “The level of the arrogance and impunity of power exhibited by this government leading up to the rejection of the 2022 Budget Statement and Policy by Parliament is demonstrated by the stubbornness of even refusing to listen to its security and intelligence non-governmental organization, the Danquah Institute, when its director called on the Government to withdraw the E-levy and rethink the whole concept”. He said “The corruption of power made the government to continue insisting on consulting stakeholders, including the minority in Parliament, only after Parliament had been seized with the budget for approval or rejection. The corruption of, and intoxication with, the arrogance and impunity of power became more manifest when Parliament was in session to decide whether to approve that budget. One cannot fantom the extent of the internalization of arrogance and impunity of power that emboldened the Minister of Finance to ask the Speaker to stand down the already over delayed on-going proceedings of Parliament for the Minister to consult the leadership of Parliament before taking the vote”. Below are details of Mr Amidu’s statement: THE ARROGANCE AND IMPUNITY OF POWER – THE PARLIAMENTARY REJECTION OF THE 2022 BUDGET STATEMENT AND POLICY: BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU The Parliamentary vote on 26th November 2021 against the approval of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s 2022 Budget Statement and Policy presented to the Parliament of Ghana on 17th November 2021 on his behalf by his Co-President and Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, was self-inflicted. The Parliamentary vote of rejection of the 2022 budget demonstrates what the arrogance of power and impunity can do to any Government that takes the electorate for granted as rabbles. Nana Akufo-Addo’s government became infested with the arrogance and impunity of power right from the day it assumed the reins of Government on 7th January 2017. This is the government of a make-believe democrat who consults stakeholders affected by his major policies only after getting Parliament to enact his wishes as policy. The government then seeks cosmetic post-facto consultation with affected stakeholders only when there is a serious objection to the policy by the electorate and other stakeholders. The constitutional principles of probity, accountability, and transparency in governance are shamelessly contravened by a government that came to power only after representing to We the People that it would be the most accountable and transparent government ever to run the affairs of this country. The Ameri scandal that led to the resignation of a Minister who was sacrificed for the arrogance and impunity of the decisions of the Family and Friends; the unresolved Sputnik-V Covid-19 vaccine scandal that is still uninvestigated; the Aker Energy Scandal; and the Agyapa Royalties Agreements hurriedly approved by the one-sided 7th Parliament on 14th August 2020 after the minority had staged a walkout, to mention but a few, demonstrate the arrogance and impunity of the Akufo-Addo style of democratic-autocratic governance. The Agyapa Transaction Agreements, for instance, is an exemplified display of the arrogance and impunity of power by this government when it stuck to its position to complete the listing of Agyapa Royalties Limited on the London Stock Exchange by 30th December 2020 even after the most affected stakeholders, including the Chiefs as custodiam of the nation’s lands, raised reasoned objections to the unaccountable and opaque manner the Government obtained the parliamentary approval without prior consultations with the Chiefs and people. It was only over these damning objections that the Government pretended to start consultations with stakeholders while insisting that the listing of the Agyapa Royalties Limited on the London Stock Exchange on or before due date in December 2020 was not for negotiation. It had to take the Agyapa Royalties Anti-Corruption Risk Assessment Report and the audaciousness of a Special Prosecutor not to shelve the report for the government to shallow humble pie and save face by pretending to refer the Agreements for reconsideration by the Parliament that approved it. The Aker Energy scandal was also so unaccountable and opaque that stakeholders had to raise reasoned objections to the policy formulation and its approval by Parliament without any prior consultations or discussions with interested stakeholders. As usual the government pretended to engage in post facto consultations with stakeholder only after patriotic Ghanaians showed an overwhelming determination to hold the Government to account. The level of the arrogance and impunity of power exhibited by this government leading up to the rejection of the 2022 Budget Statement and Policy by Parliament is demonstrated by the stubbornness of even refusing to listen to its security and intelligence non-governmental organization, the Danquah Institute, when its director called on the Government to withdraw the E-levy and rethink the whole concept. The corruption of power made the government to continue insisting on consulting stakeholders, including the minority in Parliament, only after Parliament had been seized with the budget for approval or rejection. The corruption of, and intoxication with, the arrogance and impunity of power became more manifest when Parliament was in session to decide whether to approve that budget. One cannot fantom the extent of the internalization of arrogance and impunity of power that emboldened the Minister of Finance to ask the Speaker to stand down the already over delayed on-going proceedings of Parliament for the Minister to consult the leadership of Parliament before taking the vote. And this was after the Minister had told the entire world in an interview with Joy FM at the Volta Fair that the government will find a way of winning over the minority by the time the vote on the budget came to be taken. The Government could not in its drunken stupor of arrogance and impunity of power see that it was by these statements leading the minority into the position of irrevocable commitment from engaging with the Minister lest the minority be suspected of another sell