As Ghanaian farmers celebrate farmers’ day on Friday, December 3, 2021 the ECOWAS Commissioner for Macro Economic Policy and Economic Research, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku has congratulated Ghanaian farmers on their day celebration.
According to him farmers are a generational blessing to humanity.
The larger Ghanaian story cannot be told in totality without a significant mention of “our cherished farmers”, he stated.
“The many economic contributions of farmers which extend even beyond the borders of Ghana are indeed enviable and worth giving expression in the core of our national life.
Our Country is forever grateful to your many good efforts and hard work.
AYEKOO to all actors in this life giving enterprise.”
First Rapporteur of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Mahama Ayariga has called on the Authority of Heads of States and Government to review their stands on Mali and Guinea following the military takeovers in those two sub-regional countries.
On Mali, he pointed out in an interview that they have a real problem of governance that is not necessary going to be resolved by having a democratically elected government.
“I think the problems in Mali have to do with the entire state not being able to extend its authority to all parts of the Malian states”.
Authority of Heads of States and Government
Mr. Mahama Ayariga noted that what ECOWAS should be doing is helping the Malian state to build its governance infrastructure, and security infrastructure to be able to reach out to the entire Malian state, and exercise jurisdiction to deal with the problem of the terrorist, jihadist and the vast desert land that constitutes part of the Malian state.
Again, where the rebels are hiding and threatening the peace and security of the entire Malian state, it is that policing infrastructure which they do not have over their own state that they should look at whether it is a military regime or democratically elected regime, he stated.
“If we do not deal with this issues, if a democratically regime is put in place and we do not ensure accountability and fairness in governance, the mere fact that you have gone through an election and even the last issues we had with them, the way that democratically institutions are even used”.
For instance how the electoral system was abused to bring to parliament people who everyone thought they were not democratically elected, those are the real issues in Mali, he lamented.
Additionally, he noted that if you insist that the military must leave and they should go into an election, if those tendencies remain, if the existing government cannot police the entire Malian state, you have not solved the problem.
According to Mr. Ayariga, it is important to focus on the underlying causes of the problems in Mali, and then they can look at the issues of democracy. Even if we restore democracy, they should be interested in the quality of the democracy in the sub-region of the democratic institutions.
“If they go back to doing what they were doing that would encourage the military to step in, they would step in again. For me just being fancy about the timetable and not paying attention to the underlying issues does not solve the problem”.
Parliament on Thursday adjourned without transacting any business for the day.
Immediately after prayers on Thursday, December 2, 2021, at around 1:30pm, the Majority Chief Whip, Annoh Dompreh moved for the adjournment of the House citing a discussion between the leadership.
He was seconded by the Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzj who also asserts that the Members of Parliament would have to get to their constituencies early for the farmers’ day on Friday, December 3, 2021.
The Presiding Speaker, Andrew Amoako Asiamah subsequently put the question and the ‘Yes’ have it, and the House was adjourned.
The House has witnessed some drama since last Friday, November 26, 2021 when a one sided Minority rejected the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of government.
The Majority would overturn the Friday decision on Tuesday in a similar fashion through a one sided Majority side.
However, on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, tempers went high on the floor resulting in some chaotic scenes.
This follows the presiding Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu’s attempt to rule on a motion moved by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu who sought to also overturn Tuesday’s decision describing it as unconstitutional, and illegal.
The Minority raised a procedural breach by the Speaker, stating that in such a motion, he has no power to rule, instead, he should put a question for the House to take a decision.
This was never to be as the Speaker suspended the House for an hour, only for proceedings to resume with the Second Deputy Speaker chairing. He immediately adjourned the House without any further business.
In the wake of the Majority and Minority game of approving or rejecting the 2022 Economic policy statement of the government, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu has said the Minority mean well for Ghana.
According to him they mean well for the economy of the country and it is not their intention that the economy would collapse on any of them both the Majority and Minority, “not even on President Nana Akufo-Addo that cannot be my wish”.
Mr. Iddrisu said the President should govern with respect to the provisions of the 1992 Republic constitution of Ghana, and added that Ghana’s parliamentary democracy should not suffer but the business of the House should not be subjected to new standards on critical matters.
“We would vote if they are more than us they are more than us, if we are more than them so be it. The days where they disrespected us is over; the first Deputy Speaker who should hold the fort abandoned it along the line, now he said he is not a speaker. We should not get there, I have respect for him as an MP but we are all learning the lessons, it is not always the case that the majority would be more than us in the chamber in voting”.
At a press briefing on Wednesday, December 1, 2021 when the Minority challenged the Speaker for wanting to rule on their motion to overturn the rejection of the 2022 budget, the Minority Leader insisted that the Frist Deputy Speaker should have put the motion to a vote instead of ruling.
“Speaker Bagbin could not have been wrong in his ruling, they only walked out to avoid a vote lost because they were 137 and we were 137 less Adowa Safo. And again on quorum, if it is not raised, it is because we are masters of our own procedure under Article 110, business goes on”.
He emphasized that the walkout staged by the Majority signifies that they were disappointed in their own budget.
The Upper East caucus of Members of Parliament led by the former Deputy Minister of Interior under the John Dramani Mahama led government, James Algaga has appealed to indigenes from Bawku to give peace a chance.
Addressing the press on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, on the Bawku conflict which he described as an old conflict which again erupted on November 21, 2021, he said the Minister of the Interior imposed a curfew on Bawku and its environs and has managed to contain the situation.
peace and clam has return to the area.
“If you know Bawku it is a commercial town which borders Togo to the East and Burkina Faso to the North, and the strategic location of Bawku makes it the hub of trade in Ghana, at the Upper East. So when there is a conflict it affects all of us.
As the representative of the people in the Upper East Region, we wish to appeal to the chiefs and opinion leaders, civil society groups and all who matter in Bawku to work very hard towards fostering peace and unity”.
He added that the law enforcement agencies have been deployed following the imposition of curfew. They have done their best to ensure that some relative calm has returned to Bawku, and thanked the efforts the regional security council chaired by the Regional Minister in dealing with the unfortunate development.
The Builsa North lawmaker recounted that in the time past, the National Peace Council brought the feuding factions together and it is not too late for them to also help in the peace effort. “There can never be a winner or a looser in this conflict, what makes it compelling is that there is the need for unity in Bawku as they are interrelated”, he said.
They are family, you often hear of Kusasis and Manprusis, they are the same in terms of language and culture and when lineage is traced half Manprusie and Kusasis at the same time, it is needless to engage in conflict at this time, he emphasised.
In the light of consistent absence of the Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister, Sarah Adowa Safo to answer the question of Member of Parliament for Amenfi West, Eric Afful, the MP has indicated that he would take advantage of the appearance of the Minister on the floor on Wednesday, December 1, 2021 for his question to be answered.
In an interview with Ghanamps.com he pointed out that his question is a very important question that Ghanaians need an answer to.
The MP is seeking to know the steps being taken to remove children who are on the high street of Accra and other regional capitals, hawking, begging as these activities cause injuries, traffic congestion, and road accidents to road users.
Mr. Eric Afful noted that most of these children begging on the streets are foreigners mostly from Niger, Mali and Chard and other countries who are in town causing a lot of havoc, stealing from people and others.
“I want to know the status of those children and I want the government to let us know what they are doing with their situation. I want to know if they have a programme designed for them to stay in this country permanently.”
Again, with this question, Ghanaians would know what they are doing in town and further added that, the current New Patriotic government promised they were going to build a hostel for these people and most of them are kayayis.
“Let us know whether that hostel has been built, so that these children can occupy it. And also it was said that a school would be built to accommodate this children, it is an eye saw when you go to most of the countries in Africa you would not see some of these things”.
In addition, he pointed out that they are immigrants most of them cannot show their documents that they are Ghanaians, but they are causing havoc in the Ghanaian community, and they need to clear. “Let Ghanaians have a clear mind of what is happening with these people”.
The 2022 Budget and Economic Statement of government has suffered major setbacks following two different decisions taken on it by either sides of the House in an attempt to approve or otherwise.
While a one sided Minority on Friday November 26, 2021 with all it 137 members present rejected the budget statement when the Majority side of the House staged a walked out, another one sided decision by the Majority caucus with one 138 with the presiding Speaker included also overturned the earlier decision and subsequently approved it.
As expected, the Minority caucus relying on the same standing orders of Parliament and constitutional provision of the 1992 Constitution (Article 104(1), and Standing Order 109(1)) that regulates the process of decision making in the House; as relied on by the Majority side to overturn the earlier decision, also moved a motion to once again set aside the Tuesday, November 30, 2021 decision by the Minority.
The budget is currently said to be in limbo as the presiding Speaker Joseph Osei Owusu failed to put the question before the House on the motion by the Minority.
An attempt by the presiding Speaker to rule on the motion was fiercely rejected by the Minority stating procedural error on the part of the Speaker.
The resultant effect of this was a chaotic scene on the floor of the House forcing the Speaker to summarily suspend the House for an hour.
However upon resumption of proceedings the First Deputy Speaker could not return to the chamber, instead the Second Deputy Speaker took over …… who chaired proceedings could not return instead the second Deputy and subsequently adjourned the House.
Head of the Sierra Leone’s delegation to the Community Parliament, Chernor Ramadan Maju Bah has appealed to the President of the ECOWAS Commission Dr. Jean Claude Kassi Brou to send a high-powered delegation to his country to look into the prevailing issues if not addressed urgently may get out of hand.
Mr. Bah made this call on Wednesday, December 1, 2022 in Abuja when the Commission’s president presented the Community report at the ongoing Second Ordinary Session.
“Mr. President, there has been several complains in my country; we have talked about the judiciary, their independence, that of the police being biased and not being friendly with civilians. ECOWAS did a follow-up mission the last time but how far we have gone we don’t know”, he stated.
He told the plenary that as he speaks, there is a pending census that the government is attempting to hold but it does not have the support of the Majority of the population and the census being organised is for the people.
They have challenged it and raised issue with the international community divided, whiles the EU election observer follow-up mission was in Sierra Leone, they also raised questions about the independence of the judiciary.
And it is not only coming from within as the ECOWAS Commission should provide leadership in this matter. On Tuesday, November 30, 2021, “we learned that quite soon you would be taking your exit, we believe you have done a great job and want to exit gracefully, so doing follow-up mission between now and the time you leave is also very important”, he said.
ECOWAS Parliament Abuja Nigeria
He further pointed out that there are challenges with bye-elections and the local council elections are just around the corner this year, and the general election in 2023 so the high-level visit would send a good signal
He also revealed that recently, a new Electoral Commissioner for the Western Region was approved by Parliament, again there was no consensus. There are several other issues, “so Mr. President; I want to encourage you to get a team to Sierra Leone as soon as possible”.
In addition, he pointed out that most of the time when missions come to his country, they only know about the facts only when they have left the country, and stated that they want the process that would share experiences.
They are in Abuja – Nigeria representing the people of the Community, so if the country is visited without touching base with them, it would not serve the purpose for which they represent them, as the Speaker of the Community parliament has been making a lot of efforts to ensure they are visible in their respective countries.
According to him with poverty in the sub-region, food security should not be mortgaged; it should be the top priority on their list and at their last session they talked about early warning signs on which the Commission has been doing its bit but resolved that more needs to be done.
Speaker of the regional Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Rt Honourable Dr Sidie Mohamed Tunis has assured that the composition of the regional parliament will ensure that they represent the people of the region and in turn give them a voice.
Speaker Tunis made this assurance during his opening statement at the ongoing 2021 2nd ECOWAS Parliament Ordinary Session taking place in Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
During his statement, the Rt Speaker of the regional parliament said in fulfilling their activity program for the year 2021, “we held Delocalized Meetings, Fact Finding Missions, Election Observation Missions, as well as Parliamentary Oversight Visits. The reports from these activities will also be considered and adopted in the days ahead.”
According to the ECOWAS Speaker, the current session, otherwise known as the “Budget Session”, provides the opportunity, in accordance with provisions of the Supplementary Act, for Parliament to consider the Community’s Budget.
Specifically, he said, ECOWAS Parliament is expected to ensure that the estimates are directed towards programs that address the needs of the people.
He referred to Article 17.2a, which states that “after the consideration of the Budget by the Administration and Finance Committee (AFC), the report of the AFC on the Budget shall be presented to Parliament during the Parliamentary Budget Session.”
In fulfillment of this statutory responsibility, Dr Tunis said “we are expected to render opinion, including where necessary, proposals for the amendment to the draft Community Budget.”
Furthermore, the Speaker added that ECOWAS Parliament should ensure that allocation of resources reflects real priorities. “It is also not enough that the budget surmounts the immediate threats brought upon us by COVID-19, it should also advance efforts to make progress on other fronts and priorities, which our region continues to value: democracy, rule of law, peace and conflict resolution, the fight against terrorism, poverty reduction and climate change,” he said.
As a result, the Speaker said that “peace in our region can only be consolidated and sustained if we bring development to our people.” Therefore, he urged that in the exercise of their oversight responsibility as enshrined in Article 7 Paragraph C of the supplementary Act, “we must seek for greater accountability and transparency in the execution of the budget.”
Consequently, Speaker Tunis made a “clarion call to us all is that we commit totality to the enormous task at hand and work diligently to exhaust the work program for this session within the limited time we have available to us.”
Parliament on Wednesday recorded some chaotic scenes when the presiding Speaker Joseph Osei Owusu attempted to rule on a motion by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrusu to overturn Tuesday’s Budget approval.
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu coming under Order 50(1) of the Standing Orders pleaded with the Speaker to set aside the approval of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy held on Tuesday, November 30, 2021.
Basing his arguments on the votes and proceedings of Tuesday, 30th November, 2021, he said “the decision which was taken yesterday in adopting purportedly the budget statement subject to concessions in that statement was unconstitutional, in betrayal of our rules and standing orders, and betrayal of the 1992 Constitution.”
He also registered his displeasure with the process, stating that it was unlawful for the presiding Speaker to include himself in the quorum to take a decision on the floor of the House. He said; “Mr. Speaker, particularly so, that you in the chair added yourself to the number of members that made the quorum.”
Averting the minds of the Speaker to Order 48 (1): “The presence of at least one-third of all the Members of Parliament besides the person presiding shall be necessary to constitute a quorum of the House”, he contend that the House was 137 and not 138 since the Speaker could not have counted himself to the number to form a quorum for such a decision.
He said Tuesday’s “decision is illegal, that decision is unconstitutional; just as 137 cannot take a decision, the same 137 cannot overturn it”
The Minority Leader also asserts that the so-called concessions alluded to by the finance minister are not before the House, hence the House cannot accommodate them.
He called for the proper thing to be done, urging the finance minister to make those corrections in the budget to reflect the concession because Parliament is a House of record, and until that is done, they would rely on what is in the document before the House and “not in someone’s mind”.
An attempt by the presiding Speaker to rule on the motion was fiercely rejected by the Minority stating procedural error on the part of the Speaker.
This resulted in some chaotic scene on the floor of the House forcing the Speaker to summarily suspend the House for an hour, only for the House to resume with the Second Deputy Speaker in the chair.
For instance how the electoral system was abused to bring to parliament people who everyone thought they were not democratically elected, those are the real issues in Mali, he lamented.
