Month: January 2017

The 2nd Sitting of the 1st Meeting of the 1st Session of the 7th Parliament of the 4th Republic resumes today, Tuesday, January 10.

The first sitting was during the swearing in of President Akufo Addo on January 7, 2017.

This week, a number of activities are tabled for attention.

These include the; Constitution of Selection Committee, and Constitution of Business Committee, Constitution of Appointments Committee.

A statement is expected to be made by Leadership of the House based on which the Committee of Selection will be constituted.

It is done by way of a report which will be laid, debated and thereby adopted.

The composition of the Selection Committee will be based on the party’s numerical strength in the House and determined by a resulting ratio of same.

Other factors to be considered in the selection process will include regional balance.

The Committee of Selection will be the first to be constituted and adopted to pave way for the Business and Appointments Committee to be constituted to facilitate the fashioning out of the agenda for the House as well as to vet the government’s nominations for ministerial appointment.

A statement signed by Deputy Director of Public Affairs of Parliament, Kate Addo noted that the ministerial nominations are expected to be presented to the House this week.

Other Committees will be subsequently constituted using the ration formula of 106:169 per the Membership of the two main parties in the House.

The Seventh Parliament of the Fourth Republic was duly constituted dawn of Saturday, January 7th after members elected were  sworn in as new crop of legislators for the next parliament.

The new Speaker, Prof. Mike Ocquaye led the House to swear by the Bible or Quran  after which the MPs shared pleasantries to congratulate each as colleagues for the seventh Parliament.

Ahead of the swearing in of new members for the current parliament, the new majority leader, Mr. Kyei Mensah Bonsu nominated Prof. Mike Ocquaye for the position of Speaker, after moving the motion for Mr. Ocquaye to take the chair as Speaker of Parliament. He was later sworn in as new Speaker of Parliament.

The event drew Ghanaians from all walks of life including former President J.J Rawlings, other senior citizens and persons of the Diplomatic Corps.

“We estimate that under this administration we have lifted more than 7 million people out of water deprivation,” out going President, John Mahama has said.

According to him, the universal target for potable water coverage for all is targeted to be achieved by the year 2025, but Mr Mahama contended the vision of his administration was to achieve the target well in advance of the scheduled date, hence the effort by his government to increase investment made to the sector.

“Provision of boreholes, Small Town Water System and major Urban Water Treatment projects have significantly increased access to clean drinking water. Statistics at the end of 2015 show that in excess of 76% of both rural and urban residents have access to potable water,” Mr Mahama said while delivering his last State of the Nation Address Thursday, January 7, 2017.

According to him, areas that were traditionally water starved like Adenta, Teshie and others have adequate access to potable water courtesy his administration.

President John Mahama today presented his final State of the Nation Address (SONA) as he exits from power after a four-year tenure.

The address was in compliance of the dictates of Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution.

His final public address touched on the country’s achievements and challenges under his regime.

Parliament reconvenes today (Wednesday) to conclude activities of the 6th Parliament of the Fourth Republic.

Key on the agenda will be the presentation of the State of the Nation address by outgoing President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday which will be his last, with Parliament expected to dissolve on the midnight of Friday January 6.

What is not certain is whether the Right to Information (RTI)Bill which is scheduled for Third Reading will be passed before the dissolution.

The right to information which is a fundamental human right guaranteed by the country’s 1992 Constitution and recognized as a right under International Conventions on Human rights has been on the desk for many years awaiting the final passage..

The current parliament, though has made progress with the Bill, there are currently 24 proposed amendments left to be made to the Bill.

The Majority caucus accused the Minority side of dragging its feet in the consideration of the remaining amendments left to be worked on before passage of the substantive Bill.

But the Minority in Parliament rejected such claims by the majority caucus.

The Brong Ahafo Regional Chairman of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) Alfred Tuah Yeboah has filed a suit at the Supreme Court challenging the approval of a 10% increase in emoluments for outgoing government appointees and other article 71 office holders.

He’s particularly asking if Members of Parliament should be paid retiring package every four years on expiration of a Parliament.

Presently, retiring Supreme Court and High Court Judges, the President and his vice, outgoing ministers and MPs are paid a lumpsum retiring packages, however the MPs they are paid such monies every four years.

But Lawyer Alfred Tuah Yeboah believes the treatment given the MPs is not in conformity with the constitution.

“If you’re an MP and you take your retirement benefit it means that you’re now out of parliament, that is the essence of retirement. Who in Ghana has gone on retirement three, four, or five times. If that was the intention of article 71, then that will mean that all Superior Court Judges will have to retire every four years, take their benefits and come back. A judge will take his retirement benefit when he/she gets to his retirement age of either 65 or 70, but MPs take it every four years…I think it’s unconscionable and that is not a rational of article 71, finetune it and make sure that people do not benefit unduly under the guise of retiring every four years.”