Collins Adomako Mensah asks why Nkuko Nkitinkiti vanished from the 2027 Budget

Collins Adomako Mensah has challenged the government over the absence of its Nkuko Nkitinkiti programme from the 2027 Budget, asking why the initiative was not mentioned in the statement presented to Parliament. The Member of Parliament for Afigya Kwabre North raised the issue during a panel discussion on Peace FM’s morning programme, Kokrokoo. He said the programme had been a flagship initiative and expressed surprise that it did not appear in the budget, according to the report. The budget outlines plans under the government’s $10 billion New Economy Programme, including an expected $3 billion investment in commercial agriculture. Eight areas are identified for development between 2027 and 2030: rice, sugar, poultry, maize-soya-feed, aquaculture, oil palm, vegetables and cocoa value addition. Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson named those industries while presenting the 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy on Thursday, November 12. Mensah questioned the focus on the newly listed sectors when Nkuko Nkitinkiti was left out. He argued that delivering on earlier commitments to agriculture could help build confidence in the government’s new plans. The MP said stakeholders would have greater reason to trust the latest proposals if some of the previous promises had been fulfilled, as reported. Mensah also stressed that the programme was associated with the Ministry of Agriculture and said it had not received even a single mention in the budget. His criticism centres on the omission itself and on what it could mean for confidence in the government’s agricultural agenda.