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“We going to Monitor Finance Minister on Volta Roads”—Former Minister

Former Volta Regional Minister  Helen Adjoa Ntoso, has said the Minority Volta caucus is going to monitor the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta to see if  government would do by its words after omitting the region in critical roads and coming back to amend it.

“It’s good he came back to amend the 2020 budget, we are going to monitor religiously as to whether he just came in to flatter us”, she said in an interview just after the Finance Minister finished presenting his amendment.

She was of the view that roads budgeted for, for the period 2017 to 2019 we’re never fulfilled in the region.

“He is saying they are priority road, we would see if they would work on the roads he came back to the House and added, you came and presented the budget and now you have come to do some addition that it was an oversight”.

She further questioned if money is available or the Minister is going to get money from somewhere to construct the roads, adding that it is one think talking about doing it and actualized it. “We are waiting for him to get the funds to be able to do those projects”.

“Those he mentioned have been budgeted for, this one has not been budgeted for so we are waiting and as to whether they would go back to the chiefs to inform them of the new development they talk about at their press conference”.

The former Minister noted that with the advent of social media, the chiefs and people of  the Volta Region had gotten the message of the retune of the Finance Minister to do the needful, because it was the same way they got the information when he left the Region out on critical roads in the budget.

Again I am told the contractor working from Hohoe to Jasikan has been told to go back to work but the issue is that he has not been paid the work he has done so far for them to ask him to go back. There was a Chinese contractor working from Asikuma to Kpeve for three years now we have not seen the contractor.

Since next year is an election year we would see what happens across the Oti Region, the roads are bad we have not seen anything we are waiting, she concluded.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Bantama MP defend few MPs showing up for Workshop on budget

Member of Parliament for Bantama Daniel Okyem Aboagye has defended the assertion that majority of his colleagues did not show up in their numbers on Saturday when a post-budget workshop was organize at Justice D. F. Annan auditorium.

Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu lamented over the situation where opportunity had been given to all members but few members show up at the commencement of the workshop.

In an interview the Bantama lawmaker after the opening ceremony and first session of the two day workshop other members trooped in despite he had not done any counting he believes half of the members were in for the workshop.

“Some members do have commitment and its weekend, I had a month ago promise to be with some one hundred youths of a university but had to be here because I would be part of those who would debate when it comes to Finance on the Majority side”.

Again, the workshop has been done over and over, those MPs who had been in the House for second and third term see the same facilitators and are familiar with them and the issues they talk about.

Whatever we would get from here the various caucuses would have to add on to bridge the gap we just have to be ready to debate.

On the issue of lawmakers engaging in propaganda when it comes to debate on the floor of the House, “I wish those who do that would come to the workshop when it comes to the debate it would be good to stick to the right figures”.

Anyway propaganda would happen in the debate, but those of us who know the truth would have to point in out when we are debating.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Parliament to hold post-budget workshop in the House Saturday and Sunday

Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu presenting Business Statement on the floor of the House on Friday urged members to come in their numbers as a post-budget workshop would be organized for all members on Saturday and Sunday.

The post budget workshop would be held at the justice D. F. Annan auditorium of the Job 600 building.
The Business Committee implore all members to participate in all the aspects of the consideration of the budget.

He further told the House that debate of the 2020 budget would start on Monday 18th of November 2019.

Second and Ranking member of finance committee has been allocated twenty minutes to speak, other committee chairpersons and ranking members have been allocated fifteen minutes whiles ten minutes had been allocated to other members.

The Business Community has stretched as follows: 18th November 2019, the debate would be around Finance and Agriculture; Tuesday the 19the, Communications, Energy, Trade and Industry.

Education, Health, Employment and Development Initiative would be the next to be  debated on Wednesday the 20th of November 2019, Defence, Interior, Environment, EC, NCCE and the Judiciary would be next.

Friday the 22nd of November the debate would be around Youth and Sports, Tourism Culture and Chieftaincy, the following day would be Roads, Local Government, Works and House and Sanitation.

Leadership of the House would conclude the debate on the 26th of November 2019, the House is expected to have extended sitting from Monday the 18th of November 2019.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

“Institutionalize presentation of ECOWAS and Pan African Parliament reports”—Anlo MP

A representative of Ghana, in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Clement Kofi Humado is advocating for presentation and debate of reports of sub-regional and continental reports on the floor of the House.

According to the ECOWAS lawmaker, there should be institutionalization of the presentation and debate of ECOWAS and Pan Africa Parliament on the floor for other colleague Members of Parliament to know what is happening at the sub-regional and continental Parliament.

“It is from there that the media would pick up and disseminate information to Ghanaians happenings in the sub-regional and continental, it is very important”, he lamented.

In an interview, the Anlo lawmaker indicated that he had earlier made and input about this issue when Parliament was drawing out its strategic plan for 2019 to 2023.

“We are using the public purse, the standing orders being worked on should capture this an make it mandatory, when we come back from this sub-regional and continental assignment we should report on such activities we have undertaken”, he lamented.

As to why this practice of presentation of report had stopped, he noted that he cannot tell, but was quick to point out that priority should be given to this issue and can work effectively if captured in the standing orders.

“It should not be left to the whims and caprices of leadership of the House, I believe we should priorities some of these things, it is very important”, he added.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Unavailability of Communications Minister pushed her question to Friday

The unavailability of the Minister of Communications Ursula Owusu on Thursday has put the House in a position to take her question either on Friday or in two weeks time.

According to the Majority Leader, the Ministry of Communications had a programme slated on Thursday that clashes with Parliament’s time for her to be on the floor hence her unavailability and pleaded that House gives her another time to come before the House.

He further told the House Thursday was a cabinet meeting and later in the day the Minister would attend cabinet and he would relate to her the sentiment of the House, as the Business committee had planed that there would be no question time next week as the period would be devoted to the 2020 budget debate.

Checks conducted by Ghanamps.com in Parliament indicates that the Minister has been programmed to answer a question on the floor of the House that Thursday.

Member of Parliament for Afadzato South, Angela Oforiwa-Tay wanted to know when nine communities in her constituency would be provided with mobile telephone network connectivity.

Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh commenting on the situation noted that the letter the Minster wrote to the House did not state when she would be available in the future, advising that Ministers should indicate when they would be available in such situations.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

My hope and expectation on 2020 budget was flattened—Garu MP

Member of Parliament for Garu Albert Akuka Alalzuuga  has said his expectation on the 2020 budget presented on the floor of the House on Wednesday by the Finance Minister was flattened.

According to the Garu lawmaker, he was hoping that the 2020 budget was going to address the shoddy nature of the ‘one village one dame’; this project is dear to my heart”.

He noted that he was expecting the Finance Minister to indicate to MPs if some provisions would be made towards one village one dam.

Again, about our road networks  they are in bad shape I would get the details in the budget and I hope the Eastern corridor roads started by John Dramani Mahama would be  continued, it links up to the Northern Region which comes to Garu, he added.

Mr. Albert further revealed that he had earlier questioned the Roads and Highways Minister and he said they were looking for funding.

Good road would help move foods stuffs from the hinterland, and for those of us from Upper East, the Bolga Bawku roads are in very bad shape.

According to him, the contractor who started the work was asked to suspend work since auditing was being done, adding the potion already worked on is fast deteriorating.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Speaker advices Mion MP to direct question to National Security Minister

Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Michael Oquaye has advised Member of Parliament for Mion, Mohammed Abdul-Aziz to direct his question on visa racketeering scandal at the Australia Commonwealth game to the National Security Minister.

This happened on Thursday the 14th of November 2019, when the Mion MP wanted the investigation made public by the Youth and Sports Minister and wanted the ruling of the Speaker when not contend with the sector Minister’s answer.

According to the Youth and Sports Minister, on the 6th of April 2018, the matter was referred to the National Security Minister for investigation and he was not in position to speak further on the issue.

Speaker Oquaye noted that if the Youth and Sports Minister had anything on the matter it was before the National Security Minister and a question should rather be filled to him.

The Mion MP wanted the Youth and Sports Minister to answer the question because the National Security Ministry was not a court.

However, not happy with the ruling of the speaker and thinking the Speaker has allowed the Youth and Sports Minister off providing critical answers, some Minority MPs kept shouting at the background.

Some murmured what the NPP government was hiding when other MPs from the Minority side of the House who wanted to ask critical question were turned down by the Speaker.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Volta Caucus gives gov’t 48hours to apologize to chiefs and people of Volta

The Minority Volta Caucus in Parliament is demanding an apology within forty-eight hours to the chiefs and People of the Volta Region from the President Nana Akufo-Addo government for excluding them in road projects in the 2020 budget.

At a press conference addressed by the Ranking member on Roads and Highways Governance Kwame Agbodza on Thursday after adjournment, the Volta Caucus demanded that the region be considered for its fair share of projects, “Under Governments critical road projects failing which the Minority will announce its next line of actions and advice itself”.

We wish to remind the President that he took an oath to defend the constitution of Ghana, which forbids discrimination and insists that government takes all necessary actions to undertake an even and balanced development of all regions, the statement indicated.

“This is what the NDC has always pursued anytime we are in Government and we refuse to accept the lame unconvincing excuse of the mistake. This is a grand scheme to discriminate against the region because of our voting pattern”.

“The question is when, was this obvious mistake detected and “how come no corrections have been effected as we speak? For a government that touts its credentials of having the men, never mind that they ignored the women, it is unfathomable that such mistake would be allowed to occur up to this point”.

The Minority Volta caucus produced excepts from the 2020 budget that was presented by Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta; table 21 which itemized critical regional road projects programmed for construction in 2020 with all the fifteen regions including the new Oti region having their share except the Volta Region.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Prime Minister of Barbados to address Parliament today

Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament Professor Aaron Michael Oquaye has urged Members of Parliament to be on time today Friday 15th of November 2019 as the House welcomes the Prime Minister of Barbados Honorable Mia Amor Mottley.

According to the Speaker the Prime Minister would be in the House 3:00pm to address the House.

This was when the Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu announced to the House on Thursday before adjournment of the House the coming to the House of the Prime Minister of Barbados.

Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu on his part urged the Women caucus on the House to be at their best to receive the Prime Minister who is also a woman.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

27 E-blocks completed and are in operational—Education Ministry

Deputy Minister of Education Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum  has said from 2017 till date twenty-seven Community Senior High school have been completed and are operational.

This came to light when Member of Parliament for Kwabre East Francisca Oteng Mensah wanted to how many of the E-Block schools have been completed from 2017 till date.

He further noted that the Ministry through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETfund) is committed to completing on-going and stalled projects including the outstanding community Senior High schools projects know as E-Blocks.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ ghanamps.com