Member of Parliament for Chereponi, Samuel Abdulai Jabanyite is calling for a second look at security in Parliament.

According to the Chereponi legislator security seems relaxed when it comes to Ghana’s legislature and noted that in other jurisdiction like the United Kingdom it is much better and they do not take security for granted.

In an interview, he noted that in other jurisdictions you do not find visitors mingling with lawmakers at their coffee shop, some MPs have had issues with visitors sitting around MPs coffee shop when they do not have business sitting there.

Mr. Samuel Abdulai Jabanyite noted that it has to do with the Ghanaian culture and when care is not taken in dealing with the issue it could be misinterpreted, that people who elected the MPs the MPs do not want them to be around their coffee shop.

And further sited other examples that in other jurisdictions, MPs lobby is downstairs and not close to the chamber so they are able to meet, members of civil society there and other people who want to see MPs.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Minority in Parliament has expressed shock at the decision by President Akufo-Addo to cut sod for the phase two of the Kumasi International Airport despite the fact that it was done by the Mahama administration.

According to the Minority, sod cutting for the second time for the same project amounts to waste of time and resources of the state.

In a statement, the Ranking member of Road and Transport, Kwame Agbodza said, “The Minority Caucus in Parliament has received with shock and bewilderment, news that President Akuffo- Addo will cut sod for work on the second phase of the Kumasi International Airport.

President Nana Addo on Wednesday cut sod at the premises of the Airport in Kumasi for the second phase of the enhancement exercise currently ongoing at the facility. The contract is still being executed by the same company that was awarded by the previous administration.“The purported sod cutting by the President would amount to a needless waste of time and scarce national resources in view of the fact that his predecessor, President John Dramani Mahama, performed the same ceremony on 5th December, 2016.

President Mahama performed the ceremony after securing parliamentary approval of a loan of 65,037,500 Euros from Banco Santander S.A. and export credit support from the United Kingdom Export Finance Agency, for onward lending in the sum of 7,762,500 Euros, to the Ghana Airports Company Limited, in November, 2016, he said.

He further explained: “We note that the same contractor with whom an agreement was entered in 2016 to execute the project has been retained for the project. We find it inexplicable therefore, that the President would waste scarce national resources only to perform a ceremony that has already been undertaken by his processor.

This sort of conduct smacks of desperation and are symptomatic of a government that has nothing to show for the billions of Ghana Cedis it has borrowed since January, 2017.”

According to him, the Minority caucus in Parliament deplores this level of populism and shallow opportunism through which the Akuffo- Addo government seeks to take undue credit for the work of others.

“We wish to also put on record that similar work was done by the NDC government under President Mahama in respect of the Tamale Airport and we expect that the Akuffo-Addo government will go through the motions and formalities to ensure the commencement of work on the phase two of that project”.

About $150 million was approved by Parliament in November, 2016 for the execution of the second phase for the project following the completion of the first which saw the extension of the runway.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Former Deputy Minister of Finance and Ranking member on Finance, Ato Forson had cautioned the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to be cautious about its borrowing life style, which could lead the country being declared Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC).

According to the Ranking member on Finance, the public debt had jumped from one hundred and twenty-two point three billion Ghana cedis to one hundred and forty –two point 6 billion Ghana cedis between December 31, 2016, to December 31, 2017 per the 2017 financial report.

He noted that the debt are excluded of the Energy Sector bond and UT capital bond.

Mr. Ato Forson noted that per his calculations government had increased public sector debt by twenty-eight billion (28,000,000,000) Ghana cedis, which means on the average, the NPP government adds two point three billion Ghana cedis to Ghana’s public debt every month.

Government has borrowed five hundred and six million dollars (GHc 506,000,000) that had not been added to the National debt yet, the former Deputy Finance Minister said.

He further cautioned that if government does not reduce its rate of borrowing to save the country’s debt from growing bigger; “Going by current market exchange rate  four point seven Ghana cedis (GHc4.7), our national debt would also be one hundred  and seventy billion Ghana cedis (GHc170,000,000,000).
This is a debt we need to settling as Ghanaians as a nation by year ending”.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery has assured Parliament the Ghana Police Service would do its best to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Mr. George Kormla Ackorley in the Ho West District.

Mr. George Kormla went missing during the annual SASADU celebration in 2017 and has still not been found.

According to the Minister, a search party made up of the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service was commissioned to search for George Kormla Ackorley and with the assistance of people from Alavanyo but to no avail.

Again the search was extended to the victim’s hometown, Soviepe Deme in the Ho West District where one Lucifer used Mr. Ackorley’s mobile phone to contact one Abena Ackorley, who is the daughter of Mr. Ackorley.

Mr. Speaker, efforts by the Security Agencies to trace the said Lucifer have not yielded results, he said.
Member of Parliament for Ho West, Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah wanted to know the status of the investigation by the Ghana Police Service of the missing Komla Ackorley.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Ranking member on the committee of Education and Member of Parliament for Akatsi North, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe has said the phenomenon of people obtaining fake academic certificate is tarnishing the image of the Nation.

According to the Akatsi North lawmaker making a statement on the floor of Parliament, there is the need to establish a National Qualifications Board (NQB) to fight the canker.

He further noted that education received by our grandparents in the castle and mission schools years back prepare them for life.

This legacy is being eroded by the emergence of fake certificates being awarded at various levels and added that quite a number of people are not prepared to study to obtain certificates, but prepare to pay people to write for them or either buy fake certificates, he lamented.

Mr. Peter Nortsu-Kotoe recounted that few years back, verification exercise carried out by the Ghana Education Service revealed that a large number of people got employed with fake certificates.

The Ministry of Education is severally being requested by employers and institutions abroad to verify certificates that are emanating from Ghana for authentication.

“Political parties to avoid embarrassment should take steps to verify certificates of persons seeking political office in their names, before any embarrassment befall them as a party”, he lamented.

“Mr. Speaker, the Board if established should vigorously verify certificates, so that the embarrassment that the nation is facing in the academic world is eliminated”.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Chairman of the Government Assurance Committee, Yaw Frimpong Addo has said the Speakers committee would hold the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako Atta to his words.

He made this known in an interview when the Roads and Highways Minister gave assurances on Friday the 1st of June 2018 that some roads would be fix, when MPs wanted enquired to know when roads would be fix in their constituencies.

“In fact if you were watching me from the gallery you would have notice that I was whispering something to the Majority Leader that, as chairman I am sitting right here and the Minister is giving assurances”.

“Well we all know the challenges we are facing in the road sector is so “enormous”, I was wondering when he was giving assurance, but he knows better; he is the one who is working at the sector”, he said.

“My only challenge is that, we tease out some assurance he gave and the deadline is coming, he is yet to begin and even complete. It is a very difficult question you have asked and am finding it difficult to answer; all I can tell you as chairman of the committee is that we have noticed the assurance of not only the Minister of road, but every Minister that had given assurance in this meeting”.

We are going to pursue them vigorously and again we are going to have a sensitization workshop for the media after that we are going to hit the road running; we going to look at four Ministries, he said.

If government would succeed it is the assurance given and their fulfillment by the Ministers, they have given assurance to the good people of Ghana this would ensure that the Country moves forward, he emphasized.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com