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Month: March 2019

Gov’t is struggling, and that is the state of our nation—Haruna

Posted on by Fred GhanaMPs
Winding up and thanking the President Nana Akufo-Addo for fulfilling his constitutional mandate by giving the state of the Nation Address, Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, noted; government is struggling and that is the state of the nation.

He further pointed out that there is bank crises that had led to unprecedented loses of jobs resulting from Government’s refusal to respect the sanctity of contracts despite advice from the Attorney General and Minister of Justice.

Mr. Haruna Iddrisu thanked the President for his effort in addressing the Dagbon crises and said he has given a flowers to the President for that.

But the Minority Leader withdrew his flowers minutes after presenting it to President Nana Akufo-Addo, saying, “Public safety and insecurity remains a problem and a threat to our peace and stability; again our national democratic progress”, when winding up on SONA.

Corruption hate sun shine, murder of a Journalist working with Tiger Eye in open broad daylight was never mentioned by the President, and that of our late colleague J. B. Danquah, we have not been able to account for, he noted.

“If there are needs for reforms let us do it so that we can punish crime; Ghanaians businesses need to be assured of safety; kidnapping of the young girls the President was silent on it. It should not happen in Ghana that is not acceptable in our country”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Girls getting pregnant because of tracking system—Haruna

Posted on by Fred GhanaMPs

Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu has challenged the media to investigate reports reaching his office that most girls are getting pregnant, as a result of the double tracking system in the implementation of the free Senior High School (SHS).

According to the Minority Leader, the media should take interest in the implementation of Red, Yellow and Green tracking system.

He further amended his statement, to “few girls” when the Speaker inquired if it was most girls or few girls getting pregnant.

“Some of this girls are casualties, in terms of extended stay and is adding to our social problems of our country”, he lamented winding up to thank the President on delivering SONA”.

Again the free SHS the President has done well but the quality of it I cannot defend it, and the President was talking about the University and having a central system for them. I do not know what that initiative means for academic freedom. University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, “I do not see how an admission central pool would solve their problems”.

There is inadequate funding that is why we introduced GETfund, to say that all the universities must have a common pool, we raise a fundamental objection to it.

“Mr. Speaker we need to remind the Universities to keep to their core mandate and mission, Legon departs from its mandate, KNUST same, Cape Coast University same, even University of Professional studies; on this floor we asked them to keep to their core mandate”.

“They have started implementing courses that would render most of our young people unemployed, yet they come and “blame the state”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Ghana Beyond Aid: When do we start and end —Minority enquired

Posted on by Fred GhanaMPs
The Minority has taken a swipe at the President Nana Akufo-Addo demanding that he gives time lines for his mantra, “Ghana beyond aid”.

Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu has questioned, “when do we start and when do we end this particular exercise”.

He further questioned the sources of resources being committed by the Ministry of Finance, and further asked if it is in the budget.

“one million dollars for each constituency, let one single MP stand up on the floor to say that money came to his or her constituency, let one person tell me 2017 to 2019 one million dollars has been spent on their constituencies”.

According to the Minority Leader, MPs must have ownership of their projects, and pointed out that the Ministry of Special Initiatives indicated that projects were going to constituencies, where by MPs were not aware of those projects.

“President Nana Akufo-Addo should be interested in knowing why one of the Chief Executive Officers resigned, because the authority had been made dysfunctional, let resources go to the development authorities and let them have the autonomy to spend the funds that comes for the development”.

“When we are decentralizing you are keeping monies at the, ‘flag staff house by centralizing’, the president should be frank with us that most of his flagship programs, we are seeing failures than success”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Youth Parliament urges Parliament to support inclusive governance

Posted on by Fred GhanaMPs

Members of a community advocacy group, Youth Parliament from some Districts in the Northern region have appealed to Ghana’s legislature to support the inclusivity of young people in the governance process at all levels of the country.

Leader of the Youth Parliamentarians, Jeremiah Kasalku Takal urged Parliament to advance policy formulation and implementation for national development.

The group also appealed to Parliament’s select committees on Local Government and Rural Development, and Youth, Sports and Culture to support the setting-up and mentoring of Youth Parliaments across the country.

Master Kaslku Takal who made the appeal when the group paid a courtesy call on the Speaker of Parliament also called for the promulgation of a Legislative Instrument (LI) to give effect to the National Youth Authority Act, (Act 939) and the National Youth Policy document.

The Youth Parliamentarians again urged Parliament to fast-track the passage of the Affirmative Action and Right to Information Bills as soon as possible.

The group constitutes a total of 175 Youth Parliamentarians from 25 communities in five districts of the Northern region of Ghana namely Sagnarigu, Yendi, Saboba, Nanumba South and Nanumba North and other youth advocates.

The community base Youth Parliament concept was started by the youth of Saboba and currently being implemented as an extended project by the Youth Empowerment for Life (YEfL).

The initiative is to provide a platform for young people to have engagements with decentralized duty bearers and find solutions to issues concerning community development.

The Youth Parliament received technical and financial support from the Star Ghana Foundation in its activities.

Christian Kpesese/ ghanamps.com

Law students confident in Parliament’s ability to curb exam failures

Posted on by Fred GhanaMPs

Aggrieved law students from the Ghana School of Law who stormed Parliament House Tuesday in protest against massive failures during examinations before being called to the Bar have expressed absolute confidence in Parliaments ability to investigate and resolve the challenge facing them.

Students Representative Council (SRC) President, of the school Emmanuel Kwabena Owusu-Amoah who spoke to the media after presenting a petition to the leadership of Parliament they believe Parliament is capable of meeting their demand to ensure sanity and forestall the future of legal education.

Mr Owusu-Amoah urged Parliament set up a Commission of Enquiry to establish the facts in order to safeguard the future of legal education by curbing the massive failures over the period.

“The results that students obtain at the Ghana School of Law are appalling. Last year, the pass rate was about 18% for the professional law course. For the post-course students, just 7 out of 33 passed.

This year, out of about 700 students, just 72 of our mates passed. We believe that this is a great issue of concern that the speaker of parliament needs to set up a commission of inquiry to inquire why there is such a huge failure rate,” he said.

The students said they will meet with the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee over the issue and also petition the President of the Republic for the overhaul of Legal Education in the country.

Christian Kpesese/ ghanamps.com

We need to rethink legal education- Haruna Iddrisu

Posted on by Fred GhanaMPs
In the wake of continues and massive failures at the Ghana Bar examinations, Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu has called for the urgent need to rethink legal education through a national conversation to safeguard the future.

Reacting to a petition by students of the Ghana Law School to Parliament on the failures, the leader said there is need for Parliament to overhaul legal education and review the Act that constitutes the Ghana General Council legal in the country.

“We need to overhaul legal education, and we need to review the Ghana legal education, even the Act that constitutes that school, erh! General Legal Council and others, I think that Parliament must take a look at it” he said.

According to the Tamale South lawmaker who is also a lawyer, the training of lawyers should be a matter of interest to all Ghanaians since the nation needs them to ensure discipline and pillars of freedom of human rights and rule of law in the pursuit of democracy.

The Minority leader urged the urgent need for a national conversation to review the past and see the extent to which we (the country) can improve and expand access to legal education.

Mr Haruna Iddrisu noted the massive failures recorded during the Bar exams cannot be explained but there is the need to thoroughly examine the cause more effectively to help overhaul legal education in the country.

He assured the students of the leadership of Parliament’s commitment to engage the Speaker for the establishment of a committee to investigate their concerns.

Christian Kpesese/ ghanamps.com

Vigilantism is no crime- Mahama Ayariga

Posted on by Fred GhanaMPs

Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga has stated that vigilantism is not a crime.

According to him, what is wrong is the violent associated with the act saying that people can pose as vigilantes in order to promote a good course in society including policing ballot boxes.

The former Minister for the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation noted there are enough laws in the country incriminating violent acts hence no need for new legislation as proposed by President Akufo Addo during his State of Nation message to Parliament.

Mr Ayariga said these in a contributing on Citi FM/ TV’s Big Issue show Saturday morning.

Christian Kpesese/ ghanamps.com.

Informal sector players must honour tax obligations- Speaker

Posted on by Fred GhanaMPs

The Speaker of Parliament, Prof Aaron Michael Oquaye has expressed concern about the attitude of informal sector businesses that fail to pay their taxes who he said are making life difficult for successive governments.

Addressing members of community based Youth Parliament from the Northern region who paid a courtesy call on him on what contributions young people make for national development, the Speaker urged the need for the tax net to be widen for the informal sector businesses to pay taxes.

“When you talk about expenditure, then you also talk about taxation and not only just increasing taxes, but widening the tax scope so that we can get more people to pay taxes.

As we sit in this country, one of our difficulties is that too few people are paying all the taxes that hold the country.

Those in the informal sector, they think they are getting away with paying taxes but they are rather making life difficult for successive government and in providing social services, it does not help anybody in the long run, you want something to be done and you also want to contribute to the ways and means of arriving at that particular goal” he said.

Statistics from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) indicates that only 1.5 million of the expected six million taxpayers honour their tax responsibilities to the state, with 200,000 being from the informal sector.

The informal sector constitutes 70 percent of the business arena – but just two percent of them pay their taxes.

The Speaker commended the youth Parliamentarians for being thematic in their discourse on National issues whiles encouraging them to continue to examine issues from a nationalistic point of view.

He challenged them to be research minded, inquisitive and be ready to burn the midnight candle so that they can meaningfully contribute to national development.

Christian Kpesese/ ghanamps.com

CNN documentary did not represent state of Ghanaian children—Betty

Posted on by Fred GhanaMPs

Member of Parliament for Afram Plains North, Betty Nana Efua Krosbi Mensah, has put up a strong defense against a documentary shown by CNN International, showing the plight of the Ghanaian child.

According to the Afram Plains North lawmaker on the 1st of March 2019 she was saddened by CNN’s reportage which did not represent the true state of the Ghanaian children.

“Being an MP for Afram Plains with over sixty percent of the population living on and round the Volta lake, I felt the story being told about child slavery is not the situation at all, if you have the opportunity to visit communities on the Island you would understand our culture”, she lamented in an interview with journalists in Parliament”.

She further pointed out that in the African and Ghanaian cultural settings, external family members, who take up interest in the upbringing of family members, they do have the right to take care of other people’s children.

“Unfortunately you might have some abusive care takers, taking these children and abusing them, which is not common, most of this children you see on the lake their parents see it as an apprenticeship”.

Again with the believe that after their everyday academic work they can go back to the lake and learn the trade of fishing.

“I do not think any parent would stand out and say I am putting my child out for sale that is not happening and that reportage is never true and I want CNN to come out again on this issue”.

The Afram Plains North legislator pointed out that, “who is sending this information to the international community in other to demand for some financial assistance that is not the situation in Ghana”, she lamented.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghananamps.com

Government must submit report on Presidential office — Ablakwa

Posted on by Fred GhanaMPs

Former Deputy Minister of Information and Ranking member on committee of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has reminded the Majority side of the House to adhere to presenting annual report on Presidential office Act.

According to the Ranking member, section 11 of Act 463 (Act 1993) should be obeyed, and it states that with three months into a new financial year, a report should be submitted to Parliament.

“I just we are in the third month March and it is running out, section 11 of the Presidential Office Act should be obeyed if the Executive can be reminded”

He made this remarks when the Majority Chief Whip, Kwesi Amenyaw Cheremeh presented business statement for this week.

Mr. Kwesi Amenyaw Cheremeh thanked the North Tongu lawmaker for his reminder and pointed out that government is within the stipulated time and the annual report would be presented to the House.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com