Author: Fred GhanaMPs

As we all return to the very serious business of building our Nation Ghana after the Yuletide the Majority Caucus in Parliament would like to say a hearty Akwaaba to all.

We would like to begin by paying glowing tribute first to you our country men and women for choosing to always stand up for Mother Ghana. In spite of our teething challenges the Good Lord in His infinite wisdom and largesse has again gifted us with a brand new year; a year pregnant  with promise. For this, we give thanks and praise to his Holy Name!

Nation building is like the agony of a woman in labour. The process may seem excruciatingly painful, but the baby that is sure to come is always worth the trouble. If as a people, we truly do some honest soul searching at this special time of the year, we will see glimmers of hope at the end of our collective national tunnel. The many ongoing infrastructure projects in sectors such as Health, Education, Water, Roads and Transport, Energy and Ports are there for all to see.

Indeed, the Majority Caucus in Parliament share the same frustrations as expressed by our President and Leader of our Great Party when he said recently: “petty partisanship is the bane of our democracy, and the wish to acquire power becomes so insatiable that we put on politically coloured lenses and make it difficult for us to see what the reality is.”  This is not to say that we as the Governing Party, abhor criticism. On the contrary, much as we are geared up and re-energised to work harder than ever before in the interest of Mother Ghana, we expect our countrymen and women to continue to crack the whip in any area that you sincerely believe we may be underperforming.

The Majority Caucus an integral wing of the NDC Party which recently held its hugely successful National Delegates Conference in Kumasi is inspired and motivated to better do our work. As forcefully stated by President Jerry John Rawlings and Founder of our Party during the Delegates Conference, “The strength of our Party is derived from the will of the people. The raw undiluted free will of the people to decide what they want for their Party, their communities and their country”

And so, to our teeming NDC Party supporters in every Branch, every Constituency and in every nook and cranny of Ghana, who worked so hard to return the NDC to power in 2012, we want to say thank you most sincerely for your support over the years. The icing on the cake for the New Year are our hard working National Party Delegates for recently signalling their high sense of urgency, renewal and of purpose by electing a good mix of officers to spearhead the affairs of our Great Party and by implication the Nation at large.

Most importantly, the peaceful, incidence-free and successful outcomes of this Conference should tell its own story to the rest of our country men and women – The NDC Party has been freshened up and is on solid ground to work harder in our remaining two years in the Governance of our Nation, the only reason for which the good people of Ghana would give us another mandate beyond 2016!

We want to finally reassure the good people of our country that we are not oblivious of some of the major challenges that confront our nation today. Our New Year message to you is not to despair and not to give up hope. As symbolised by our hugely successful National Delegates Conference in Kumasi, we in the words of our Founder are “focussed and ready to fight for the core values of what the NDC truly stands for: truth, transparency, integrity and a people-centred movement.”

Under the able leadership of our President we have indeed been working, are working, and will be working even harder in the coming year and beyond to guarantee the basic needs of our people across the length and breadth of our country. We can only do this if we bond together as one family. We are one! Let us commit to working together in the years ahead and make our country greater and stronger.

Afi oo Afi, Afehyiapa and Happy New Year to you all!

NDC Majority Caucus in Parliament

Majority Leader

Hon. Alban S. K. Bagbin

Signed

Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee, Hon. Osei Bonsu Amoah, says the health needs of his constituents still remain a number priority on his agenda.

He therefore would leave no stone unturned to ensure that they receive the best of medical care to enable them stay healthy and contribute their quota to the development of the area and the country at large.

Hon. Amoah who is also the MP for Akuapem South made this observation on Monday moments after presenting some medical suppliers to a combined medical team from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Koforidua Government Hospital and Kom Clinic to begin their two weeks intensive free eye screening and surgery for his constituents.

The exercise is taking place in over 28 demarcated centers across the constituency.

The first phase of the project which is expected to end on Sunday, August 21, 2016, will see the medical team screen the eyes of patients and make referrals for further treatment and surgery if any.

The second phase which will begin on Monday, August 22, 2016 will also see the medical team conduct surgery to patients who have been referred for that exercise.

The Akuapem South legislator told Kasapafmonline.com on the sidelines of the event after visiting some centers in Brekuso, Ahwerase, Aburi, Jamaicaso, and Kitase that apart from the medical suppliers he sponsored, he is also taking care of the cost of surgery, accommodation, transportation and feeding of the medical team.

According to him, he was motivated to be part of the sponsors of the event based on the outcome of previous health screening exercises he has been conducting for his people.

“I must emphasis that the cost is from my own personal resources to augment other health intervention programs for my people”, he noted.

The leader of the medical team, Curtis Siaw Addae, an Optometrist at the KATH Eye Center said his outfit is expecting to screen over 8,000 people in the exercise.

As at the time of the interview, the medical team had recorded over 50 cases of cataract, glaucoma among other cases.

The deputy Northern Regional Minister and Member of Parliament for Bunkprugu constituency, Mr. Solomon Boar, has hinted on a number of interventions by government such as the implementation of Domestic Violence, Human Trafficking and the Disability Acts to ease challenges being faced by women.

The Minister said this when he participated in this year’s “The Young Urban Women” Conference at the Catholic Guest House, Tamale in the Northern Region.

The conference, which was organized by the Action Aid and the Northern Sector Action on Awareness Center (NORSAAC), was aimed at empowering young women in the region and strengthening their collective power to actively participate in their own development and the development of their communities, region and country as a whole.

Speaking at the Conference, Mr Boar lauded their efforts for standing up to be part of the development process in their communities and encouraged them not to relent on their efforts but continue to strive to add value to whatever jobs or activities they are engaged in.

He also urged them to grab any leadership position as that was the sure way of getting their numerous demands and grievances timely addressed.

He noted that the Akuffo Addo led administration sees the youth especially women as the major element to Ghana’s human capital, adding that government was therefore committed to supporting the youth to strengthen their health and wellbeing.

He pledged to lobby to ensure that 50% of MASLOC funds are set aside for female applicants to support their craft enterprises in the region.

The Minister also commended the Action Aid and the Northern Sector Action on Awareness Center (NORSAAC) for their support and encouraged them to continue to partner government’s effort in bringing development to the people.

The minister, who later received a signed petition on behalf of the President also to assured them that their grievances will swiftly be addressed by government.

Adam Abdul-Fatawu /Alice Abubakari/ Ghanadistricts.com

The National Democratic Congress Minority in Parliament has filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States of America over the controversial $2.25bilion domestic bond, issued in April 2017.

This was made known in a statement signed by the Minority leader Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, in fulfillment of a pledge the Minority made on the 17th of April 2017 at a press conference.

According to the Minority, their action will lead to the US regulatory body investigating the bond issuance in which a company registered in the States, Franklin Templeton, purchased 95 percent of 15-year and 7-year bonds.

“The SEC will primarily be investigating suspected conflict of interest and inside trading which are violation of US law by the Hon. Trevor G. Trefgarne who is a Director of Franklin Templeton and a Board Chairman of Enterprise Group –a company owned and founded by the Finance Minister of Ghana, Hon. Ken Ofori Atta”, in a statement by the Minority.

Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on behalf of the Minority filed the petition, with Enforcement Division of the SEC in Washington DC on the 1st of May 2017.

The Minority further emphasised that, it was committed in assisting with investigation in any way they can, in the supreme national interest of  Ghana and the United State of America.

By:Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has indicated that debate on the Mid-Year budget review which started this week would end today Thursday the 26th of July 2018.

According to the Leader of Government Business, he and the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu would conclude on the debate today to enable the House approve the appropriation to legitimize spending.

He further added that at the beginning of the second meeting of the second session of the seventh Parliament of the fourth Republic, agenda for the entire year was presented so that the media would be able to track and follow and note those that had been accomplished in the course of the year.

A number of Bills have been introduced and passed, Legal Aid Commission Bill at third reading, the Right to Information Bill is at the consideration stage and we hope to pass the Minerals Amendment Bill which would raise funds for government.

He again indicated that the House is likely to be recalled when it goes on recess this Saturday, because there are some Bills that are of urgent nature but might not be concluded before the House goes on recess.

Member of Parliament from Adaklu who represented the Minority Leader said, at the beginning of the meeting MPs saw the agenda and notice there is a lot of work to be done, “we need to be diligent and critical with the bills that are before us”.

And lamented over Parliament not starting on time and again the House not being able to get the required number on the floor because of lateness.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Parliamentary Candidate (PC) on the ticket of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Garu Constituency, Albert Akuka Alalzuuga, said he is not surprised that the former Member Parliament Dominic Azimbe Azumah is standing as an independent candidate after losing to him.

According to him, he is only worried that an experience politician of is caliber, have worked all his life for the NDC and being MP for twenty years and gain support from the party and also benefited from the party is doing this to himself and the party.

“He knows the rules very well but has turned deaf ears to the same rules that had supported him this while and going independent”.

And added that, people have lost primaries to him including himself in 2012, but he was the first person to walk to him, picked up his t-shirt went round with him to campaign, but he has refused to support the party’s candidate.

Mr. Akuka Alalzuuga made this known in an inter in the wake of the NDC party sacking eighteen failed parliamentary candidates aspiring to go independent, key among them is Dominic Azimbe Azumah, a former minister and MP for Garu Constituency in the Upper East Region.

That is not the rules of the game, and he must be a good supporter to make the game interesting, because if anybody who lost the primaries to him wanted to go independent, I don’t think he would have gotten to where he is. It is a bit too late for him to be talked to resend his decision, I wished he has not gone that way and listen to everybody’s advice, he said.

“All of us grew up knowing NDC as our only party, I don’t know what has made him so angry that he want to take this decision, I leave that in the hands of God and pray that in the near future, he would be able to see things because losing him or letting the party lose him from what has happen he himself has resigned”.

Once you know the implication of going independent it means you have voluntary resigned from the party, that is not the best thing, but whatever it is, “I want to still urge the rank and file of the party in Garu to remain calm and work so that we can win the seat and John Mahama becomes the next President”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com