Month: October 2018

Chairman of the committee on Communications, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong has said he had apologized to his colleague Samuel George Nartey and his colleague the Ningo-Prampram lawmaker has also done same to him.

According to the Assin Central lawmaker a decision taken by the committee to wait and invite the Communications Minister on the digital television migration he heard his colleagues, speaking on the matter so he got so agitated, but the Ningo-Prampram lawmaker explained to him that he was rather reacting to issues raised by the sector Minister.

This issue occurred when members of the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association petitioned the committee on the Digital migration when they felt the Minister did not have the interest of the local industry.

Mr. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong pointed out that when he complained as to why his colleague, Samuel George Nartey could not call to inform him, he said the Ningo-Prampram complained that when he calls the chairman does not pick his calls.

“We did not have physical confrontation, I am a black belt, if it was physical you would have seen a mark on him I was furious it was base on what I had heard”

He blame the media for the interview the Minister granted and when there is issue at the committee level the same media rush to him to ask him questions.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Former Roads and Highways Minister and Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini had said the promises given by President Nana Akufo-Addo during the 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary election would come to play in 2020 election.

According to the Tamale Central lawmaker, when Ghanaians elect political leaders they expect them to redeem their promise when they give promises.

He further added that the promise of fighting corruption if not redeem before election 2020, Ghanaians would see President Akufo-Addo as a person who deceived “them”.

Mr. Inusah Fuseini made this remarks in the wake of Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu complaining of not getting the needed resources to execute his mandate.

As to whether as a nation, we can fight corruption and reduce it to bearers minimum he said it is an ongoing fight and even in established democracy no one can say they have stopped corruption, it is an injustice  and would show up every now and then.

Again the promise to fight corruption is captured in their manifesto and they promise to fight corruption, as politicians “we” would be held to our promise.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Ranking member on the committee of Road and Transport Kwame Agbodza  has said whether the current government led by President Nana Akufo-Addo postpones the commissioning of Terminal 3 at the Kotoka International Airport or not it has come to stay.

According to the ranking member on Road and Transport he taught there was going to be finality to Terminal 3 built by the previous administration but the current government had shown him a different side of their petty politics.

He pointed out in an interview that the Minority is not interested in stopping government from going on with development and rather government would be advocating for government bringing in more development.

“As a ranking member, I had been written to by the Aviation Minister to come to the airport for the commissioning of terminal 3, for people of this country and it a good thing it is already in use I have used it on three occasions it is a testimony from those who have used it for me this facility signify an new thing it would improve our quality of life it has created a new job and would go down as progress” he said.

Again postponing a commissioning of a project is normal but in this case we were not given any reason why this happened, “but at list have the courtesy to tell us why you are not commissioning it we can move on with you, nobody says you cannot postponed commissioning you can but give us some reasons that did not happened and none of us is happy about that”, he lamented.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Ranking member on Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said the indefinite postponement of the inauguration of the newly-constructed Terminal 3 of the Kotoka International Airport and its late notice is bad.

According to the North Tongu lawmaker the move would make investors and foreign partners such as Emirates Airlines lose trust in Ghana.

As part of activities for the inauguration of Terminal 3, which was scheduled for Tuesday, October 2, 2018, Emirates Airlines had planned to land the biggest passenger aircraft in the world, A380 at the KIA.

Mr Ablakwa, in a Facebook post, said: “I am reliably informed that passengers who tried to get first-class tickets were told that the entire First Class cabin had been blocked off for Emirati and Emirates Airlines VVIPs. If this is true, what are we going to do with our VVIP guests who planned to attend a presidential commissioning?

“If it is not the case of destructive politicking, what possibly could account for this late notice of indefinite postponement of the commissioning which has led to last-minute scramble to inform invited guests financiers, contractors, other partners etc. traveling from all across the globe that the event has been postponed?”

“Is this not too much a price to pay because of bad politics and petty partisanship? Granted that this episode will be quickly forgotten, and another issue will come up soon to drown this one out, but I would plead that this decision be revisited, if at all possible, because we may not care, but in other places, someone’s word is his/her bond. Ever tried buying a rug or attire in a market in Dubai or Tehran? Time spent bargaining, drinking coffee with customers and reaching an agreement on prices matters even more than money. Words matter. Agreements matter. Trust matters. In the larger scheme of things, this may not be a big issue, but it doesn’t portray us as trustworthy partners, honestly.”

By : Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Kwame Agbodza had confirmed that one hundred and twenty research assistants of Members of Parliament (MPs) have received their letters of appointment.

According to the Adaklu legislator those who have gotten their letters form the first batch and thanked the Speaker for sticking to his principles.

In an interview with the Adaklu legislator he pointed out that when he raised the issue on the floor of the House, during the five days emergency sitting, the Speaker gave his word that those who have gone through the system and qualified with criteria set would get their letters before the end of the emergency sitting.

Mr. Kwame Agbodza however pointed out that half of his colleagues, whose research have not gotten their letters, perhaps did not meet the qualification, and encouraged them to go through the system in other to get replacement.

“I know the wish of leadership and the Speaker is to get research assistants to make our work easier, they can help us prepare basic information, it is necessary to improve the workings of MPs”.

He further added that when the research assistants are properly employed, the burden would not be on MPs to pay them, mother Ghana would be the beneficiary then the MPs can demand proper work from the research assistants.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo-Prampram Samuel George Nartey has said the Communications Committee would continue to play its oversight role in the interest of mother Ghana.

He made this remarks after the committees meeting with Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) and it came out that there was a physical exchange between the chairman of the committee Kennedy Ohene Agyapong and the Ningo-Prampram lawmaker.

Both came out to point out that there was a hot exchange between both parties because, the committee had agreed that there would not be talks about GIBA Star Times brouhaha, but he Ningo-Prampram legislator was heard on civil society platform commenting on the issue.

When tempers had cooled down, the Ningo-Prampram legislator explained to the chairman of he committee that he made remarks that he made because the sector Minister had granted interview denigrating the committee.

He further gave a quick response that there was not physical fight between him and the Chairman of the committee as was earlier reported in the media, “one of us would have been headed to Korle Bu by now”, he said.

“I have a fantastic relation with the chairman ranking and members of the committee”, he pointed out.

On the issue of the chairman pointing out that he holds a black belt if there was a fight, Samuel George Nartey, said “I am a son of  a fisherman if he had come with his black belt, he would have met a fisherman’s son”, as they both laughed off.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com