Month: July 2018

Leader of Government Business, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has informed Members of Parliament that, discussions on the Right to Information Bill 2018 at the consideration stage would start on Monday July 9, 2018.

According to the Majority Leader, MPs should come to the floor in their numbers this week and give it the needed attention.

He further urged MPs who have intention or have filled proposed amendments to the Bill, to participate in the winnowing process of same to enrich the proposed law.

Leader of the House in a civil society engagement indicated that the Bill would be passed before the House goes on recess on the 26th of July 2018.

Legal Aid Commission Bill 2017 would go through third reading on Monday the 9th of July 2018, as the RTI goes through consideration stage.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, Kennedy Osei Nyarko, has explained that the Black Spot disease which is affecting the production of mango plantation across the country has been dealt with.

According to the Minister, the diseases overpower mangoes, retard their development and finally bring them down.

He further noted that the black spot disease was first discovered in the country about ten years ago and the spread started from the Eastern Region, more especially, in the areas where mango plantation is carried largely and later spread to other areas where mango plantation is carried out.

“Farmers do see this black sport bacteria disease mangoes, but unfortunately the add them to the good once they have collected, this even worsen the situation where the disease spread the more”.

Even as government has not been able to eradicate the disease entirely, proper measures have been put in place to check the disease, so as not to destroy the mango plantation of the Nations, he said.

He made this known in an interview after he answered a question on the floor of the House, where Member of Parliament for Kintampo North, Kwasi Etu-Bonde wanted to know the steps being taken to control the “Bacterial Black Spot” (BBS) disease, which is destroying mango plantations.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Vice Chairman of the committee on Defense and Interior in Parliament, Collins Owusu Amankwah is calling on government in partnership with Ministries of Defense and Interior to institute measures to retrieve all small and illegal arms which has been hidden.

According to the vice chairman of the defense and interior, there is the need to take back all illegal arms being used by some sections of the population illegally.

He appealed to the Ministry of Interior to declare “operation surrender your weapons” which would help maintain national safety for socio-economic development of the country.

There are over one million two hundred and thirty-six registered guns to civilians which is represents three percent of total gun permit that is renewed annually, he said.

“This indicates that ninety-seven percent do not renew their licenses which is alarming to our national security”, he lamented.

Mr. Amankwah called for biometric identification management system for gun control, as well as combating illicit gun ownership and its use.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Leader of Government Business and Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has told Members of Parliament that the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta would be on the floor of the House next week to present the mid-year review.

According to the Majority Leader, Mr. Ken Ofori Atta would be on the floor of the House either on July 18 or 19, 2018 to present the mid-year review.

He earlier in the week pointed out that the Minister is working towards the review, hence the reason why he was unable to attend to business on the floor and had to send one of his deputies, which the Minority raised issue about not seeing the Minister on the floor.

Article 179 (8) of the 1992 constitution states, “where, in respect of a financial year, it is found out that the amount of money appropriated by the Appropriation Act for any purpose is insufficient or that a need has arisen for expenditure for a purpose for which no sum of money has been appropriated by that Act, a supplementary estimate showing the sum of money required, shall be laid before Parliament for its approval”.

Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Governs Kwame Agbodza raised the issue on the floor of the House wanting to know when the Finance Minister would come to the floor to present the midyear review.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Kwame Agbodza has called on the Majority leader to make clear to MPs when they would have their research assistants.

According to the Adaklu MP, some MPs have met the criteria Parliament has set for MPs research assistants to meet before they are engaged; Master’s degree holders as wells as degree holders with first and second class upper certificates.

When this issue was raised by Minority side of the House, the Speaker directed those who meet the criteria to be given their appointment letter for the matter to be put to rest.

Mr. Kwame Agbodza on the floor of the House wanted to know the update of the directives given by the Speaker on the floor of the House.

The Majority Leader responded by saying the question should have been directed to the House committee, adding, he was only presenting the Business statement programmed by the Business committee.

“Mr. Speaker I would hence on resist the temptation of answering questions that are not in the Business statement for the ensuring week”, he lamented.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Former Minister of Energy Emmanuel Kofi Armah Buah has call on leadership of Parliament to decide on the number of times when Ministers fails to come to the floor of the House his or her Deputy cannot answer a question on their behalf.

He recounted when he was a Deputy Minister of Energy, then Minority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonus kicked against, he Kofi Buah answering a question on the floor and wanted the substantive Minister Dr Oteng Adjei to come to the floor, and was prevented from answering the question.

According to the former Minister the issue happened six years ago and has become a test case, so there should be a threshold on the number of times that a Minister cannot come to the floor.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu on his part set the record straight that, Dr. Oteng Adjei had failed to come to the floor of the House for two meetings and the then Minority had no option than to compel him to come to the floor.

He however noted that he appreciate the principle being espoused being the former Energy Minister and promised to work with Ministers to have them appear as frequently as possible.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament for Kumbungu, Ras Mubarak has urged the leadership of Parliament to address the issue of Parliamentary questions being advertised on the order paper and disappearing the following day.

According to the Kumbungu legislator, there had been numerous occasions in the seventh Parliament when questions had been advertised and for the following day, MPs come to the floor and the question they saw advertised is no longer in the order paper.

“Mr Speaker, I would advise that, members are informed adequately so that we would be present in the House, when we have a question to ask you do all you can to be in the House only to realize that your question has been knocked off the order paper; it is a bit of an inconvenience so if it could be addressed.
Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu indicated that he agrees with point being raised by the Kumbungu lawmaker that if a question would be taken away the MP in question should be informed ahead of time.

He further added that, he is aware some MPs ask relatives and members from their constituency to come to Parliament and sit in the public gallery, when they do not get such opportunity it becomes disappointing.

“When MPs had to let people travel fare and near and there is no show, we have to lease with the table office to address this issue”, he said.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament for Buem, Daniel Kwasi Ashiamah has urged Parliament to address the practice where questions that are time bound are delayed and they lose their relevance when asked.

According to the Buem legislator he has a question for the Minister of Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr. Antony Akoto Osei on Tuesday the 10th of July 2018, on detailed role out of the Ghana Card.

“When I ask this question, now people would say but the program had started, the market value of my question is lost so the Majority Leader should help, so that our constituent would know we are working on their behalf”, he said.

Mr. Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu said he agrees with the Buem MP’s appeal, but when a question is not forth coming from the oven, then it might be that the Speaker had not approved the question.

Again, sometimes there are mix-ups during the transmission of the questions to the relevant Ministers, where a question meant for the Finance is sent to procurement and has to come back to the clerks to be redirected.

He further pointed out that, the delay can sometimes be blamed on the Ministry, which had delayed on offering response to questions that had been transmitted to them on time.

“We have told MPs that when they are filling questions, they should consult their whips for them to guide them to address the questions to the appropriate person, again the whips would help MPs as to the way and manner to ask the appropriate questions”, he lamented

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Governs Kwame Agbodza is lamenting over the way and manner information on the demise of the former Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur was handled.

According to the Adaklu legislator the issue happened on a military facility and he is shocked how the information was managed.

Reports indicated that the former Vice President collapsed at air force gym last week Friday morning during a workout session, and he was rushed to the 37 Military hospital.

He further indicated that, “I am reliably informed that our Defense Minister Dominic Nitiwul was on social media making some comments on the demise of the former Vice President an hour before the new broke out”, he said.

“It is a military installation, the defense Minister has got jurisdiction over that, he was sharing some comments about the demise of the former Vice President if it is true, what was the content of that information and what was it supposed to do as a defense Minister?”

A former Vice President is in trouble on a military installation, I think information should have been handled better than we witnessed, he lamented.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

The Minority in Parliament is daring the Majority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu to come out with names of the two Minority Members of Parliament who had registered for the Ghana Card.

In an early interview, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu revealed that two MPs on the Minority side of the House registered for the Ghana Card, when the National Identification Authority were in the House.

And when pushed he would reveal those names because the Minority MPs who secretly registered for the Ghana Card begged the NIA officials not to mention their names.

In an interview, the MP for Adaklu, Kwame Agbodza noted he would not register for the Ghana Card until the voter ID is accepted and questioned what kind of leadership would be showing to his constituency when the vast majority of them cannot use their voters ID.

He further noted that whatever happened in Parliament is not material, “we do pass bad laws and we have the liberty to correct it I cannot exclude myself, we have always proposed that we should be given enough time to do our work”, he lamented.

Even if this would lead to me being declare non-Ghanaian I would not register for the Ghana Card, until this issue of using the voters ID is resolved, again we are waiting for the Supreme Court’s pronouncement, he said.

“I can tell you this is a bad government propaganda, they are only flaunting the old Ghana Card which I did not even register”, he said.

Mr. Kwame Agbodza pushed for the names of the so called two Minority MPs who had registered for the Ghana Card to be published, “do not hide their names we are here in Parliament on the ticket of our party and the party has taken a decision if any member goes contrary to that we have to identify that person”, he said.

He further said this is a critical matter and the party has taken a decision on it, I have also been told that they went for the old Ghana Card and parading it as a new Ghana Card.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com