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Public must treat Appointment Committee process like the High court—Oquaye

Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Michael Oquaye has give a stern warning that members of the Ghanaian public should accord same respect they would give the High court to the Appointment Committee of the House.

According to the Speaker, Parliament is going to insist that only ten members of a nominees close relations like spouse friends and others can be in the vetting room.

We have realized that sometimes, the  numbers that come into the room do not help the process, that is to say the least and there had been giggling all over television and other remarks postures and gestures which are not the best in all the serious circumstances of the process of carrying out our constitutional duties, he added.

He further pointed out that elsewhere like the United States, the examination process, vetting, you go there with your counsel and spouse.

“We need to develop our democracy and strengthen our systemic arrangement, we are going to insist on that”

He made this remarks on Friday and pointed out to the media to carry out this message to members of the Ghanaian public, this development delay the usual ten o’clock start of proceedings in the chamber, as leadership had to discuss this and take a firm decision.

Professor Oquaye again added that, arrangements would hence forth change, as relatives of the nominee would not be allowed to sit behind him or her, “as if to say we are behind you”.

“Sometimes you see from their facial gestures, we would not take it anymore they would be given a reasonable distance to sit with all dignity in the hall”.

We going to have due process and due regard for our process in Parliament; I wish this would be captured  for posterity, all in the interest of our nation.

If there are protocol request, they would be granted accordingly but should be made in advance because people cannot just troop in.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Government has shown commitment to pass RTI Bill —Suhum MP

Member of Parliament (MP) for Suhum, Frederick Opare Ansah has said the current government has shown commitment in passing the Right to Information Bill which is currently at the third reading.

According to the Suhum lawmaker he has been in the House long enough and can say that, the RTI Bill has gone the long haul and through second reading.

“We have finished with second consideration stage and pending third reading essentially means that Bill would have passed if there is nothing to delay it and again second consideration stage is short, usually it takes thirty minutes or within a day we would have been done since it has to deal with a specific clause, so it is not opening up of a new Bill”.

Mr. Frederick Opare Ansah further added that as a country Ghana should be cautious with legislation of RTI, indicating that we should do it and get it right the first time; he has seen countries that have passed it like the United Kingdom and they have had major challenges with implementation.

“That is why I brought a proposal for the suspension of some parts for some months for us to put ourselves in preparation of it full implementation I am not surprise all of a sudden civil society are back and asking us to hold on whiles they bring in some proposals”

Again I woke up someone I did not know had forwarded a message to me in that regard, talking about the new proposal, he added.

According to him, the Speaker is asking parliament to take the RIT off the order paper because its presence and non completion of it is given the impression that Parliament does not want to execute that particular activity.

“I agree with the Speaker, if something is delaying it why are we putting it on the order paper, we should bring it back when we are ready to take it and when the new proposal coming from civil society comes so that we can incorporate the new changes if the need be”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

ECOWAS MP calls for regional solution to herdsmen menace

A Member of Parliament (MP) to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Legislature, Frederick Opare-Ansah, has said it is time to find regional solution to herdsmen clashing with local farmers within the sub-region.

According to the Suhum lawmaker who is one of Ghana’s representative in the West African Parliament, the issue keeps coming up and Ghana has touched on it several times in its country report.

He further pointed out in an interview that one of the countries that had suffered from this development is Nigeria.

Hence in an extra ordinary session a member of the Nigerian delegation Senator Forster Ogola requested that Speaker of the community Parliament, Mustapha Cisse Lo include in a delegation going to look at this particular problem adds Nigeria as part of the visit.

“It is a problem that exist through the entre ECOWAS region and these clashes keeps happening over and over again”, he lamented.

Mr. Frederick Opare-Ansah, revealed that Ghana had succeeded in creating a grazing banks area reserved for the herdsmen to graze their cattle’s away from the farms.

“I am surprise when I started hearing that, the issue is crippling back, I don’t know what the current causes are, whatever it is, it is about time we find a regional solution to it”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

L I on Act 936 would be in Parliament before last quarter—Minister

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama has told Parliament Legislative Instrument (LI) on section 232 (2) of the Local Government Act, 2016, Act 936 would be laid in Parliament before last quarter of the year.

According to the Minister the Ministry is currently engaging stakeholders on the proposed Regulations prior to approval by the Attorney Generals Department and the consultation with the committee on subsidiary Legislation for it to be laid before the end of the last quarter.

Again the guidelines are being expanded and converted into Regulations as required under Act 936.

The office of the Local Government Service (OHLGS) has developed a framework document to regulate Inter-sectorial collaboration and co-operation between the OHLGS and other branches of the public service.

“Mr. Speaker, the inter-service and sectorial collaboration and cooperation system (ISCCS) which was developed for adopting by all partners in the Local Government Service is being reviewed and expanded to meet the requirement of Act 936”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Minister confirms financial malpractice in visa applications in NY—Minister

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey has confirmed to Parliament that some financial malpractice related to visa applications were committed in New York.

According to the Minister, some locally recruited staff of the consulate engaged in that when a thorough investigation was carried out between June and August, 2016 by a four member disciplinary committee.

She made this revelations on the floor of the House when Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa wanted to know what had been done about the allegation of corruption in the media with regards to processing Ghanaian visa at its mission to the United Nations in New York.

And the Minister disclosed that after the investigation, it was discovered that an estimated loss of revenue to the consulate was two thousand eight hundred and eight dollars (US$ 2,880); and three staff members were cited for the fraudulent behavior.

The committee recommended a punishment of suspension of a minimum of two months and a maximum of six months and those who cooperated with the committee by being honest and providing useful information to enable the committee ascertain the facts on the allegation be given the minimum punishment.

And those find to be liable were made to sign a bond of good behavior, and retained upon return to work and also reassigned from the consular section to other departments of the consulate

“The three officers were also made to refund the misappropriated funds and they did not receive salaries of the period of their suspensions”.

As a result of the development the committee made a twelve point recommendations, among them were that: office would be opened solely by home-based staff; security would be enhanced by the provision of access control and CCTV cameras.

The Minister reported to the House that since the recommendation were implemented, there has been significant improvement in the visa application process.

Also two separate audits had been carried out on the consulates and the Ministry would continue to monitor progress through revenue reports, returns among others.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Minority want to trigger uprising within electricity consumers—Energy Minister

Minister of Energy John-Peter Amewu has assured Ghanaians of an effective power supply and management taking into consideration what power does in the country.

According to the sector Minister the prolong outages that affected business and leading to lose of life and collapse of businesses is gone.

He further pointed out that the gloomy picture of the power sector being painted by the Minority is a clear indication of their intention to create chaos, frustration and anarchy.

“They want to trigger some sort of uprising within the power consuming public, I can assure you that when we took over this administration of this country as a government a lot of things had changed”

Again, we have been able to renegotiate some of the bad power agreement that were signed by the previous administration, in the power sector, they signed something we call take or pay.

“Whether you consume power or not you have to pay, today we are paying twenty five million United States dollars every month, because of the take or pay, for ten months, it is two hundred and fifty million dollars and twenty month is five hundred million dollars”

He made these revelations in an interview with journalists after he briefed Members of Parliament on the current power outages that the country is experiencing.

“If John Jinapor says there is a debt, it is because of the debt they have created and because of the reckless nature of the Private Partnership Agreement (PPA), John Mahama administration which he (John Abdulai Jinapor) was then a Minister of power had left for us to resolve”.

Again we are engaging the power generators to let them understand that we need to negotiate on some of these rates they have signed, at very excessive rates without any negotiation, they refuse to take into consideration the poor Ghanaian tax payers need.

“High tariffs were set because of private political pockets, because people did not take into consideration what the consumer needs today. We are trying to bring down those arrangements and we have agreed that going forward we need to sign power purchase agreement that are base on take and pay”.

Mr. John Peter Amewu emphasised that it is a fact, that is what everybody must know that you only pay for a commodity that you are ready to consume, why would you be paying for a commodity that you have not consumed, that is what John Dramani Mahama administration left for us.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Pusiga district hospital to commence this year

Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu has told Parliament that the construction of Pusiga District Hospital is likely to commence third quarter of this year.

According to the Health Minister preparatory works on the hospital would commence when the package is firmed up by government and all statutory approvals have been received.

“Mr. Speaker, the Ministry is aware that the population of Pusiga is growing and as part of its policy it would require a much wider services package that the current health facility is providing”.

Member of Parliament for Pusiga Laadi Ayii Ayamba sought to know from the Minister when the district hospital would be constructed.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

AG directed by President to start legislation on anti-militia

The President Nana Akufo-Addo has directed the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Gloria Akuffo to draft specific legislation to be sent to the legislature, to deal with party militia.

In this second response to a second letter written to him by the National Chairman of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, concerning the proposal he made during his third state of the nation address that the two main parties NPP and NDC meet to fashion out a way of disbanding militia groups affiliated to them, the President said, “Firstly, I note that you have quite properly given a copy of it (second letter) to the chairperson of the New Patriotic Party Freddie Blay. I have asked him to respond to its content, since he is the rightful person to speak directly for the NPP and I expect that he will do so promptly”.

“Secondly, since the constitutional responsibility of maintaining law and order in our country is that of the Executive, the President of the Republic, I have in line with my pronouncement to Parliament during the message of the state of the nation address on 21st February 2019, instructed the AG, without prejudice to the outcome of the engagement, if any, between the NDC and NPP to prepare and submit to Parliament as soon as possible, specific legislation to deal with the phenomenon of vigilantism, and provide appropriate sanctions against occurrence.

I believe that the parliamentary process of enactment affords sufficient space for any citizen to make an input or contribution to the enactment of a good and effective law, whose implementation will enable us rid our nation of politically-related violence, a development that can only inure to the benefit of Ghanaian democracy and to the preservation of law and order”.

“The president also expressed gratitude to the NDC Chairman for the expression of commitment to ending the vigilante phenomenon in Ghana.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Six Ministers to answer 10 questions next in Parliament

Minister of Parliament Affairs and Leader of Government Business, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has told the House that ten (10) Ministers would come to answer questions on the floor next week.

He made this known when he presented the Business Statement of the House for the ensuing week.

Minister for Roads and Highways Kwesi Amoako Atta would appear before the House to take four questions
.
Aviation Minister, Sanitation and Water Resources Minister, Health and Lands and Natural Resources Ministers would take a question each in their name .

Whiles Attorney General and Minister of Justice Gloria Akuffo would take two questions in her name next week.

There are also three (3) urgent questions to be taken and seven oral questions the House would have a committee of whole meeting next week Wednesday 20th March 2019.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Yendi Government Hospital to be rehabilitated and refurbished — Minister

Minister for Health Kwaku Agyeman Manu has said the Yendi government hospital would be rehabilitated and refurbished when funds are secured.

According to the sector Minister there is the need to replace obsolete equipment as part of a general refurbishment of the hospital.

He further pointed out that the Ministry has taken note of the need to provide a dental unit, laundry, mortuary, re-equipping accident and emergency centre as well as standard neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

He made this remarks on the floor of Parliament when Member of Parliament for Yendi Habibu  Tijani Mohammad wanted to know when the government hospital would be upgraded to befit the status of a referral hospital.

He said Yendi has a one hundred and twenty (120) bed district hospital which provides healthcare services and also serves as a referral facility for all the primary healthcare facilities in its catchment area.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com