<<Print>>

The Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has stated that the publication in the Independent Newspaper dated 5th March 2013, which seek to suggest that he agrees entirely with the Minority that the country is heading back into HIPC is incorrect. �I do not subscribe to anything by the Minority. My problem is where I may agree with the Minority is the allegation that they make, and it is just an allegation that these over expenditures were not approved by Parliament� if indeed that is the case, then there is a problem because all the state institutions� the state ought to act on the basis of law and the law says that if ever we thought the monies approved in the budget would be over spent we need to go to Parliament,� he outlined. Mr. Pratt�s rebuttal to the story was occasioned by what he beliefs is a complete distortion of the issues with regards to the Minority�s �True State of the Nation Address, making it look as though he is in total agreement with all what was said in the statement. The story which earned a place on the front page of the Independent newspaper stated that Kwesi Pratt �seems to be of the same opinion with the projection by the Minority of Parliament with effect that, Ghana could soon be heading into the heavily indebted poor country (HIPC) status�. The veteran journalist added that until he sees the evidence to the allegations being made by the Minority in Parliament, it would for him, remain an allegation. He however explained that, over spending which leads to deficit, and the deficit itself is not negative if the monies are used to create jobs to better the lives of Ghanaians, but stressed the need for government to indicate how the monies were disbursed. The member of the socialist forum elucidated that, the problem is about the �failure to address the fundamental structure of the economy and our reluctance to have a paradigm shift� and not the problem of any particular government.