Month: March 2022

Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu has given indications that despite measures taken by the Finance Minister to address the distressed Ghanaian economy, the Minority would not support the Electronic Transfer Bill 2021 no matter the foam it is presented.

On the issue of salary cut which would also affect parliamentarians as proposed by the Finance Minister, Mr. Iddrisu indicated that the matter would be discussed at the Committee of the whole and for a decision to be taken on it.

However, the Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka even before the Leader could answer indicated that they are not prepared as Members of Parliament to take a pay cut; and questioned whether during their time in government under the John Dramani Mahama’s administration when they were taken such measures, they Majority then in Minority joined?

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Member of Parliament for Kwadaso, Dr. Kingsely Nyarko said the low turnout of the Majority Members of Parliament on the floor of the House the whole of last week was not deliberate but rather because of internal elections within the ruling NPP.

According to him it has to do with an internal election to elect polling station executives, as MPs wanted to be in their constituencies to observe the process.

In an interview, he pointed out that on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 they came in their numbers to help push government agenda forward and hoped his side would continue to come to Parliament in their numbers.

And again, he noted that his colleagues from the Minority side should cooperate with them to do legitimate government business but they can raise a legitimate concern since that is the beauty of democracy, “Tuesday’s quorum issue was needless”.

When the Speaker asked the table office to get the numbers and the numbers that were given to him exceeded the correct number, “after we suspended and came back the available leader on the Minority side indicated that yes the numbers were around to do business”, he emphasised.

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Ranking Member on Local Government and Rural Development, Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye is advocating for fiscal decentralisation for the Assemblies in Ghana as part of complementing the decentralisation the country has embarked on.

According to him recentralizing small fiscal regimes of the Assemblies is against the tenet of the Ghanaian Republican 1992 Constitution and principles of our local governance structure.

In an address with members of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) he pointed out that government is supposed to give five (5) percent of total revenue to the District Assemblies Common Fund. This is a statutory provision in the constitution, “for a whole year government has not done that, what is the assurance that the one that is not statutory when government collects it would be sent back to the MMDAs?” He queried.

He further noted that, government has proven for some time now that it cannot be trusted as far as reimbursing the Assemblies are concerned. It is troubling for government to come and collect property rate meant for the assemblies and take it to the center, he added.

After they take what they take then they would give the remaining to the Assemblies. GRA themselves are limited in scope and jurisdiction, “so, how are they effectively going to embark on this function that has been executed by the MMDAs for some time?”

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament for Agona East Queenstar Pokuah Sawyer has urged government to consider revising the huge property rate that is being charged in other to encourage property owners to honour that obligation to the assemblies.

According to her government should be flexible with it and further empower the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives in collecting the property rate rather than waiting for the Ghana Revenue Authority to do so.

“They might not even know whom and where to go for it at a particular time and I am still insisting that government should allow the MMDCEs to do that internally”. She made this known at a press briefing in Parliament House after making a statement on it on the floor of the House.

Madam Pokuah Sawyer further pointed out that in the 2022 budget statement of government, it was made emphatically clear that the GRA was going to move around the MMDAs to take over the collection of Internally Generated Funds (IGF).

This, she noted was not a positive development considering the fact that most of the districts do not raise enough IGF to run the assemblies, and when they have to share the little that would come with another government agency, then it becomes very problematic.

Citing the Agona East District Assembly, as an example, she said “assuming the IGF is about one million Ghana cedis and the GRA has to come in to help collect it, and they have to take a percentage of say 60 percent the 40 percent left what can it do?” She queried.

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The Minority side of the Communications Committee has taken a swipe at the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation Ursula Owusu Ekuful and the Director General of the National Identification Authority (NIA) Kenneth Agyeman Attafuah as being responsible for the juries that occurred during the sim card registration on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at the NCA head office.

According to them the directives given are absolutely untenable and do not make sense technically for sim card registration to be done before March 31, 2022 otherwise sim cards would be deactivated.

At a press conference addressed by the Deputy Raking member of the Committee Samuel George Nartey, per the NCA’s own report two weeks ago less than eight million Ghanaians have registered whiles there are over forty million active sim cards.

“We expect a proactive Ministry and Agency to by now announce extension of the exercise. We do not know what is holding them back or the fear that they would be called incompetent and the injuries occurring all because of the fear of the deadline”.

He further called for the reversal of the policy directives and apologies rendered to the families of the victims; and in addition the NIA office is a National Security zone which should not see more than hundred people there since it houses bio data of Ghanaians.

“They must stop the mass registration and rather channel their resources to the district offices of NIA as today it is a stampede, tomorrow a different thing might happen; we cannot handle with all the numbers there”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament for Sawla- Tuna-Kalba Constituency, Andrew Dari Chiwitey has appealed for support for his constituents at Kalba after a rainstorm ripped off the only health center in the area and also displaced hundreds of residents.

He want the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) as a matter of urgency support in bringing the back the health center into full operations after it was heavily hit by the rainstorm.

On Saturday, March 19, 2022 a late evening downpour in the community was accompanied by strong winds that caused extensive damage to property running into several thousand of cedis.

At least 3 children were injured and buildings were destroyed in the 20- minute’s rainstorm.

Even though the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has been to the community to undertake an assessment, the Legislator says the affected residents will need some support towards their recovery and not the usual giving of plastics bowls by the Organization.

The MP said he is in touch with the District Director of Health, the in-charge of the facility and the Damongo Catholic Diocese to fast-track support for the re-roofing of the health center so that quality health can be delivered to the people.

According to him, he has some small money in his NHIS accounts which he will quickly mobilize to assist in the rebuilding of the health center.

“I am really saddened by the extent of damage caused by the disaster and I urged NADMO to support because my people are broken”, the MP stated.

Ghanamps.com

As Members of Parliament continue to complain about their questions disappearing, or not being programmed, Member of Parliament for Sawla-Tuna-Kalba is worried over a community-health planning and service centre (CHPS compound) which was started under the John Dramani Mahama administration with a ninety-five (95) percent completion in 2016 but have been left to deteriorate.

According to him he wonders when the health facility would be completed for the use of his people and at the same time there is a health center that has been left to dilapidate.

In an interview on Friday, March 18, 2022 he noted that he want to find out from the sector Minister if there are plans to rehabilitate the health center as advertised in the order paper.

“I wanted the Deputy Majority Leader to give me reasons why that question was dropped and an assurance if that question would be captured. All these things he evaded and did not answer; he came and said I should go and meet my leadership”.

He further added that surprisingly the First Deputy Speaker who was in the chair directed that he should see the clerks at table over the same matter. “My issue is I do not have to see the table office, I was supposed to ask the question today”.

Again the Deputy Majority Leader is a smart guy, he is always trying to dodge my questions on the subject matter. I asked a specific question to the education Minister which was advertised, “I did not get any communications from leadership neither the table office”, he complained.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com