Month: March 2023

Minister for Health Kwaku Agyeman Manu has assured Parliament of Ghana that within two to three weeks the issues of shortage of some routine childhood vaccines in the country would be addressed.

He made this known on Thursday, March 9, 2023 on the floor of the House when the Ranking member of the Health Committee, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh wanted to know when the country would have vaccines in the wake of the shortage.

The Minister came to the floor of the House to make a state regarding shortage of vaccines and added that as a Ministry; they have done all the necessary arrangements. “Let me be honest with you, there are certain activities that are not controlled from the Ministry when it comes to vaccine procurement shipping and all that we have done all the necessary things”.

Again he pointed out the Ministry placed an order a week ago and has done all the necessary arrangements and are getting indications that they would get them either in two or three weeks, but he does not know how quickly they can get it.

“We are doing all things very possible to make sure we even get some of this vaccines earlier, but the specific time it would come it would be difficult for me to assure the House if I come and tell you Friday and these are things we do not have control over”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin is leading Ghana’s delegation to attend the 146th Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Manama, Bahrain.

The 146th Assembly of the IPU and its related meetings are scheduled to be held in the Arab country from Saturday, March 11, to Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

All IPU statutory bodies, including the Governing Council, Standing Committees, Committees on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians and on Middle East Questions, as well as the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Forum of Young MPs, will convene during this Assembly.

The General Debate is expected to provide a platform for delegates to deliberate, exchange views and galvanize parliamentary action in the area of fighting intolerance and promoting peaceful coexistence.

Ghana’s parliamentary delegation headed by Speaker Bagbin comprises leaders of the House, Majority and Minority Leaders, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, respectively.

Also included in this delegation are the First Deputy Minority Whip Ahmed Ibrahim and Second Deputy Majority Whip Habib Iddrisu.

Female MPs Patricia Appiagyei and Dzifa Gomashie, the Director of Parliamentary Relations & Protocol, Sheba Nana Afriyie-Osei, Richard Acheampong, Head of the Speaker’s Secretariat, among others.

The delegation will represent Ghana’s interests, including Parliament, in the Conference and related meetings. The conference, under the theme “promoting peaceful coexistence and inclusive societies: fighting intolerance”, will explore and share ideas and perspectives on strengthening democracy worldwide.

The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments. It was founded more than 133 years ago as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. The IPU comprises 178 national Member Parliaments and 14 regional parliamentary bodies. It promotes democracy and helps parliaments become stronger, younger, gender-balanced and more representative. It also defends the human rights of parliamentarians through a dedicated committee of MPs worldwide.

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Minority Member of Parliament for Dormma West, Vincent Oppong Asamoah is confident that the proposal to elect Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) would ensure that development reached the local levels.

According to him he support the idea of electing MMDCEs and thinks all the political parties do same but as to the process that is where the difference is, as to whether it should be partisan or not – that is where the issues is.

He noted in an interview that the advantages of electing MMDCEs cannot be overemphasized; “it should happen, we need to consider this during election 2024 seriously because let me tell you I would be happier to be a DCE that is elected by the people with that I would maintain my seat at the Assembly”.

Again, he argued that when elected, he would like to put in more efforts to develop the place because in rural areas people appreciate development, “so much whiles you are giving me water and sanitation you are improving my health and education, why would they not elect you so you can be there forever?”

It also affords the people to elect someone capable of doing the work better for them. “So I am hundred percent for electing MMDCEs but on non-partisan basis”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament (MP) for Dormma West, Vincent Oppong Asamoah said lawmakers in the rural constituencies carry out more developmental activities than the Assemblies do, stating that MPs are over tasked all because they were voted for and during campaigns a lot of promises are made.

According to him once allocations are made to MPs, more projects are executed – be it water sanitation, education and health all these areas are so critical.

“Most of the of the time you go to the District Chief Executives, most of them do not care because at the end of the day his or her picture would not be on ballot papers but you the MP you are forced to at least fulfill most of your campaign promises”.

In an interview, he pointed out that, there are civil societies that have gone into ranking of MPs in terms of their performance and can say some of them are a bit political. “If you have an institution like the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) going into these areas where at least, politics wound not be the yard stick, it will encourage most of the MPs to utlilise their Common funds very well especially those in the rural areas; their needs are completely different from those in the urban areas and “if you look at the monies given to MPs it is negligible looking at the demands we receive from our constituents, he stated.

He stated further that the highest they have received so far is a little over hundred thousand Ghana cedis for a quarter and even as low as sixty-seven thousand and if you go to some of their constituencies, they have to virtually depend on non-governmental organisations for support to meet most of their campaign promises. “So I am suggesting that a special dispensation be given to MPs more especially rural MPs where the challenges are higher and statistics would help appreciate the description I have given better”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuogon Lydia Seyram Alhassan on Saturday, March 4, 2023 organised a health walk for her constituents when she presented “walking the talk” as part of energizing her base to the party to break the eight (8).

Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) Sandra Owusu Ahenkorah, constituency chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and tertiary students were present to support the health walk.

The MP asserts that “we need to be healthy, we need to energize ourselves for the task ahead and I thank you for your understanding that the task ahead is not a small job, so therefore we need this regularly; a healthy nation is a wealthy nation and it’s something we would do regularly”, she said when she addressed her constituents after the exercise.

The MP further added that the New Patriotic Party needs to prepare and be ready for the great task ahead in 2024 and emphasised the need for unity as a constituency, as they work together a few people who are not part of the training should join the training for them to work together in breaking the eight (8).

She pointed out that her constituents are aware of the happenings across the globe, and Ghana as a country has been equally affected but assured that measures that have been put together, it would not be long the economy would boom again.
On the upcoming limited registration, she urged her constituents who were unable to undertake it, whiles others because of COVID-19 were somewhere else that this is the time to register and transfer their votes.
She also admonished them to get involved in the Assembly elections and not to assume it is for only a section of the constituents.

The lawmaker recounted that within four years as the representatives of the people in parliament she has been able to push for developmental projects in Abelekpe where she renovated their school building and pushed for the construction of an Astroturf and almost all the electoral areas have received one project or the other.

“My constituents, you have a lot to be proud of; you have the message and a product to sell and we are looking up to you, I would work for us to achieve victory again”, she stated.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Majority Leader Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the sole use of the Ghana card as registration for voter identification card has come to sanitize and purify the Ghanaian system as currently various institutions are recognizing the integrity of the National Identification Authority and the Ghana card.

According to him the call by his colleagues in the Minority pushing for birth certificate, national health insurance card and passport to be reintroduced is untenable, stating that with the NIA system of acquiring Ghana card, one is required to swear an oath before a commissioner when need be. And the sanction are well spelt out such that even ten years after, if you are found out not to tell the truth you will go to prison and you would be disenfranchised eternally.

“So people are afraid the EC system is a bit loose, you go and I know this person, we are in the same house, I know him to be a Ghanaian, I swear before myself and the ground that I know him and that is all”.

Addressing members of the Parliamentary Press Corps on Thursday, March 2, 2023, he further noted that when the drivers licenses was taken off it did not serve as a restraint on citizens right to register to vote, same with birth certificates.

He added that a number of cards issued in the lead up to the 2012 elections, the enactment came into force February 2012 at the time less than ten thousand across the country Ghanaians had been issued with the Ghana Identity cards against the voting population of twelve million Ghanaians in the 2016 elections.

The then EC Chair Charlotte Osei could not resort to the Ghana card, as less than two hundred and twenty thousand Ghana card was issued against a targeted voter population of close to fifteen million Ghanaians in the lead up to the 2016 elections.

The registration exercise done by the EC did not rely solely on the Ghana card despite the fact that they used it at the time; those who had Ghana card could go with it to register but said they did not rely on it solely for the purposes of registration. The EC accordingly decided to resort to it as one of the instrument of identification of Ghanaian citizens.

At that time Ghanaians with the Ghana card had significantly improved such that at the time of the 2020 elections, EC had informed Ghanaians that by February 2020 the number of Ghanaians who had been issued with the card total just about under seven million against the voting population of close to seventeen million.

So, they could not rely on it solely for the purposes of registration but they used it as one of it and indeed by December 2020 when the voting took place the number had improved from seven million to ten million.

The NIA’s issuance of cards, their system is much more better than that of the EC, “why do I say this; in the compilation of the register of the NIA, it came to light of the number that had registered on their role, ninety five thousand nine hundred and forty two people attempted to register multiple times and were found”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com