Author: Akumaa GhanaMPs

Parliament on Wednesday 31 October proceeded on recess to allow MPs to visit their various constituencies to campaign vigorously for the upcoming 2012 general election.
The House is expected to reconvene on Monday 17 December after the election to wind up on its mandate before dissolution.

Parliament will then break on the 21 December for the Christmas festivities and will however be expected to reconvene on the 3rd January 2013.

The President is expected to deliver a massage on the State of the Nation while election and swearing in of Speaker and the swearing of the Members of Parliament – elect for the sixth Parliament will be held on Saturday 5 January 2013

KwadwoAnim/ Ghanamps.gov.gh

Parliament on Wednesday night recessed after eight days of sitting to enable members prepare for the December polls with the approval of an unequaled loan agreement totaling 1.34 billion dollars in a day’s sitting.

Uncharacteristic of such legislative venture, First Deputy Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho deftly forged consensus between both sides of the House to successfully achieve the feat without the contentious partisan objections and banter that accompanied such encounters.

The loans include a 200 million dollar agreement between Ghana’s Government and Credit Suisse International for the construction of 5,000 affordable housing units for the public.

The House also endorsed a 15.8 million Euros loan agreement between the Government of Ghana and Stanbic Bank (Ghana) for the purchase of 200 ambulances for the National Ambulance Service.

Another finance arrangement that engaged the attention of the House was a mixed credit facility between Ghana and the Export-Import Bank of China for an additional funding of 151,560, 000 to complete the Bui Hydro Electricity Power Project.

Even though the legislature approved the amount, it froze a component of 56.15 million dollars of the amount pending a comprehensive report by relevant authorities detailing a breakdown of what that amount was to be used for.

This was as a result of the Minority expressing reservations on certain unexplained escalations in the initial contract sum, and unjustified request for substantial amounts for non-core business of the Bui Power Authority.

Parliament also approved a loan agreement between the Government of Ghana and the Export Import Bank of the United States of America for an amount of 538,299,497 dollars to finance the Accra Sanitary Sewer and Storm Water Drainage Alleviation Project.

The House also approved an additional 125 million dollars loan agreement between Ghana and the Standard Chartered bank Ghana to finance the same project.

A further 55.5 million dollars was approved to finance the implementation of the Wa Water Supply System Development project. That financial arrangement is between the Government of Ghana and Government of the Republic of Korea acting through the Export-Import Bank of Korea.

Parliament additionally permitted the contracting of 86,503,082 million Euros between the Ghana Government and the ABN AMRO Bank NV of the Netherlands to finance the expansion and rehabilitation of the Kpong Water Supply System.

The House also approved a credit agreement between Government and Export-Import Bank of India for an amount of 35 million dollars to finance the establishment of a sugar factory at the Komenda –Edina-Eguafo¬-Abirem Municipality in the Central Region.

It also approved a financing agreement between Government and the International Development Association for an amount of 30 million dollars to finance the First Phase of the Ghana Public Private Partnership Project.

The House additionally a 32 million dollar concessional loan agreement between Ghana and China to finance the design, procurement and construction of the redeployment of the Kotokuruba Market Infrastructural Facilities at Cape Coast in the Central Region.

Mr Adjaho who performed the closing ceremony, commended members for their prompt response to duty and their commitment to discharge their constitutional mandate effectively.

He urged members who aspired to return to the House and those seeking to join the Legislature to conduct civil campaigns because the sustenance of the country’s peace depended on their good conduct during the elections.

“Your campaign should be issues-based and may God give you strength and good health” he told members.

Majority Leader Cletus Avoka thanked the Speaker for his resilience that ensured the successful sittings, urging all members who were going to their constituencies to prosecute the elections well.

Minority leader Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu charged the nation to take “precaution and show circumspection” in the many financial agreements it was negotiating to ensure that Ghana got value for money to enable it position itself to repay the loans.

Parliament is expected to reconvene on Monday, December 17th 2012 after the general elections.”

The House will take another break in December 21, 2012, for the Christmas and New Year break, and reconvene in January 3, 2013.

GNA

Parliament on Wednesday authorized the withdrawal of some six billion Ghana Cedis from the Consolidated Fund to meet government’s expenditure on public services for the first quarter of next year pending the approval of 2013 budget.

The House gave the approval for the expenditure in advance of the appropriation for the 2013 fiscal year in accordance with Article 180 of the Constitution, the Financial Administration Act, 2003(Act654) and the Standing Orders of the House.

Out of the approved amount of GH¢6,067,600,241.00, the total expenditure for the first quarter is projected at GH¢5,297,275,281, representing 6.6 percent of Gross Domestic product (GDP).

This amount is expected to comprise recurrent expenditure of GH¢4,034,390,664 and a capital expenditure of GH¢1,262,884,618.

Total Budget for the first quarter contains an overall deficit balance of GH¢958,905,695 representing 1.2 percent of GDP. This deficit is the excess of projected expenditure over revenue from January to March.

According to the report of the Finance Committee of Parliament, presented on the floor of Parliament by Committee Chairman James Avedzi, before the approval of the amount, total revenue and grants for the first quarter of next year is expected to gross GH¢4,338,369,587, equivalent to 5.4 percent of GDP.

A total tax revenue for the period is also expected to amount to GH¢3,116,986,187 whilst non-tax revenue is likely to reach GH¢574,643,050.

GNA

Salaries of Ghana’s Members of Parliament have shot up from GhC 3,000 to GhC 7,200, insider reports reaching Citi News indicate.

Information reaching Citi News indicates that each legislator will receive the new amount as their new consolidated take home pay. The new pay will take retrospective effect from January 2009.

The MPs previously earned under GHC3, 000, a situation they complained was woefully inadequate compared to other African countries.

It will be recalled that The Globe newspaper a few months ago reported that former President John Atta Mills has ordered an increment in the pay rise of the MPs following recommendations by the Professor Ewurama Addy Committee, which he (President Mills) set up in June 2010 to review the Conditions of Service of Article 71 office holders.

It came after Ghanaian MPs, who are among the most poorly paid lawmakers in Africa, objected to a portion of the Committee’s report which they argued could make legislators “worse off.”

The source only gave indications and said “enough work has been done to give MPs a lot to smile about.”

Speculations were however rife that lawmakers could soon be taking nearly twice their GH 3,000 consolidated pay – made up of allowances and salaries for drivers and other household staff – they currently earn.

Investigations by The Globe established that conventionally, Ghanaian MPs have been on the same salary level as High Court Judges. But, by the recommendations of the Prof Ewurama Addy Committee, High Court Judges will earn much higher than lawmakers if the proposals of the Committee are enforced.

“The leadership of the MPs made it clear to the President that the recommendation was not acceptable to them,” the source said, adding “The MPs argued strongly that at least they should be put at par with High Court Judges on the salary scale.”

Citifmonline.com

The Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee of Parliament, Hon. Kwame Osei Prempeh laid the committee’s report on the controversial Constitutional Instrument (CI) 78 creating the 45 new constituencies.

Discussion of the report is scheduled to commence on Monday 1 October, 2012 where a heated debate as to whether the report should be rejected or otherwise is expected to ensue.

Though the content of the report is not readily known, information gathered indicates that, the minority is likely to push strongly for the rejection of the report due to the several mistakes found in the CI.

The CI is however expected to mature by the first week in October following which the new constituencies will be created and Parliamentary election held in December.

On Thursday, Hon. Kwame Prempeh accused the Majority Leader Clestus Avoka for unduly delaying the report, an allegation he strongly rejected since he asserted that he could not solely determine when a report should be laid in Parliament, adding that that was work of the Business Committee.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh

The Chairman of the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation, Hon. Kwame Osei Prempeh have questioned the delay in laying the committee’s report on the controversial CI 78 before Parliament.

According to him, the committee finished its work and made the report ready to be laid four days ago, adding that the delay in laying it raises a lot of concerns.

Hon. Kwame Osei Prempeh raised the issue on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, stating that his checks indicate that the Majority Leader Clestus Avoka was unduly delaying the laying of the report, an act he described as a bad incidence.

“I have been the chairman for this committee for the past 10 years and this has never happen before, never has this committee’s report been ready to be laid and has been delayed as such” he said.

However the Majority Leader Clestus Avoka who objected to the allegations made against him stated that he has no hand in the delay as he cannot solely determine when a committee’s report should be laid in Parliament, adding that it was the work of the business committee to decide when it is appropriate for reports to be laid.

He said the business committee after a meeting on Thursday morning has decided to lay the report tomorrow.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh

The chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament Albert Kan Dapaah was on Tuesday night attacked by armed robbers in his house at Dansoman.

The unfortunate incident occurred when he return home after appearing on Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana show which was aired live around 10 PM from the Parliament House.

Hon. Kan Dapaah who is also the MP for Afigya Sekyere West was vandalized even though he suffered no bodily harm.

The MP was bit cagey about the issue but confirmed the incident and noted that he had informed the police about the incident pending investigations.

Hon. Kan Dapaah however noted that he does impugn any political motive behind the attack.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh

Mr Dan Botwe, Member of Parliament (MP) for Okere, has challenged the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to provide any alternative policy to the free Senior High School (SHS) education the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has promised.

“I want to challenge the NDC to provide an alternative education policy to counter the NPP’s free SHS” he said.

Mr Botwe said the NDC propaganda against the free SHS policy was as a result of ignorance and lack of vision to improve the country’s educational sector.

He urged the electorate not to listen to the NDC and vote massively for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and the NPP to implement the policy and enable every Ghanaian child to have access to secondary education.

The former general secretary of the NPP said this when he addressed the people of Asamankese in the Lower West Akyem Constituency.

Mr Botwe said he was surprised at the NDC’s stance against what he says would be a transformational education policy.

“It amazes me that the NDC as a Social Democrat Party seeks to shoot down free education,” he added.

The Okere MP said the ruling NDC had demonstrated that paying judgement debts was important than providing free education to the country’s future leaders.

He said that the NPP flagbearer, Nana Akufo Addo was unperturbed by the ruling party’s criticisms and remained committed to implementing the free SHS policy.

He said if the NDC had no alternative policy then they should leave the NPP alone and allow Ghanaians to bring back the NPP to come and implement the programme.

GNA