Author: Enestina GhanaMPs

First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Benard Ahiafor on Wednesday afternoon briefly suspended proceeding in Parliament following a disagreement between the Majority and Minority Leaders over the Governor of Bank of Ghana’s briefing of the House.

The Governor, Johnson Asiamah was in the chamber with his colleagues from the Bank of Ghana to brief the House.
However, the Minority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin called for engagement at the leadership level on how to proceed with the briefing of the House.

“Things may get out of hand if this engagement does not come on; and I am for any form of accountability, I am never against it”.

But the Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga indicated that the issue was already discussed during the business presentation for the ensuing week so there was no need for litigation.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Minority in its ‘True State of the Nation Address’ at a press conference on Monday has debunked President John Dramani Mahama’s claim that he solved the power crisis (Dumsor) before leaving power in January 2017.

“Mr. President, you did not fix “dumsor” as you claimed in your address. Your record on “dumsor” is abysmal, unlike your predecessor Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who kept the lights on.”

According to the Minority, the government’s handling of the power situation has increased uncertainty about economic growth prospects this year, stating that the promises by the President in his address to the nation to fix the current “dumsor” cannot be different from those he made during the four years of “dumsor” endured by Ghanaians between the end of 2011 and 2016.

They said the current erratic power supply attest to the return of ‘dumsor’ and Ghanaians are anxious and full of fear about the potential devastation this could cause for them and their businesses, especially small businesses. Many people and businesses have already felt the pinch and the pain of living with the current ‘dumsor’. “We have also seen the return of electric generating sets in shops, clinics and at social events.”

The Minority has thus called on the government to release a timetable for easy planning by businesses.

“To ameliorate the impact of these erratic power supplies, we the Mighty Minority call on the government to publish a load shedding timetable to help people and businesses plan effectively to offset some of the losses the economy is currently suffering from.”

Ghanamps.com

Mr Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum, the Minister of State in charge of Special Initiatives is walking the talk of government achieving the agenda of transition energy with the introducing of electronic bicycles in parliament which he said would eventually trickle to Ghana’s universities.

According to him a visit to Ghana’s parliament one would see Ghanaians driving their vehicles without looking at focusing on the transition energy that is catching up with the world.

“As I said during my vetting, our Parliament should be one of the ‘greenest’ Parliament in the world. What we want to do is to let most of the MPs if not all MPs to drive electronic vehicles to parliament. We have to make sure we are not using combustible engine vehicles in Parliament”.

In an interview with Ghanamps.com, he noted that it is the main reason why he brought in the electronic bicycles to Parliament House, “where we would not have people driving all over in Parliament with their big cars”.

He further added that this initiative is not only for Parliament, as the presidency also has some of the electronic bicycles and doing same in all the universities in Ghana. “I want the University students to move around their campuses with the electronic bicycle that would let them have easy access to wherever they want to go; they do not need to wait for trotro or taxi. They just have to get on their electronic bicycles to move to class and move around easily on campus”.

As to whether the electronic bicycle and vehicle idea is getting down well with his colleague lawmakers, he noted that it has not been launched yet, as he is awaits approval from the Rt. Hon Speaker Alban Bagbin.

Mr Agyekum disclosed that he is in talks with university of Ghana, Cape Coast University and in the next week or two he should be able to deploy some of the electronic bicycles to Valley View University; and assured that there is no problem with safety issues.

“I believe our university students are as smart as any university students in the world; you cannot tell me that a university student in the UK can use the electronic bicycle and that Ghanaian students cannot use it. It is very simple to use, like our normal bicycles you just need your balancing”.

“As we speak, we have more than twenty to thirty people who have downloaded the app and they have been using the electronic bicycle in Parliament before the speaker’s approval. If you ask the security personnel in Parliament they would tell you they use it.

He said we would be able to decongest the capital city with this initiative, assuring that “it is doable”.
“We can geo-fence Accra, so that if you want to move it beyond Accra, it would not move. Why should we be moving all these cars in Accra? There is so much traffic and it is high time someone changed the dynamics in our country”, he emphasized.

The Minister also stated that the government is seriously working on labour export as he had indicated that to parliament when he came before the Appointment Committee. “We would work out labour exports trying to get our bilateral labour agreements in place. We are going to train people to get the international certification”.

“Why should we see our nurses moving around without jobs when there is international demand for them? There are demands for social workers in the UK and everywhere in the World. So, why can’t we do it? He queried.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Parliament would start debating President John Dramani Maham’s first Message of the State of the Nation Address (SONA) today, Tuesday, 4th March 2025.

The Rt. Hon. Speaker Alban Sumana Bagbin admonished the Majority Members of Parliament (MPs) to show up on the floor in their numbers as they did over the weekend in their first orientation in Ho in the Volta Region.

According to him this is a call on all of us to be present not only that but to showcase what they learnt at the orientation for MPs and to effectively debate as one of the things that was noted in the presentation was for the MPs to win their debates.

And revealed that there is likely to be a second motion; half hour motion and in discussion with leadership it came out that it should come as a motion.

There is an objection for it to come as a full motion and that is likely to come, “I am saying this because I want to see these number on the floor and I would personally be there to preside”, he added.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Minister of State in charge of Special Initiatives, Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum said he would balance his work as a Minister and also attend to parliamentary duties regularly to avoid the Minority raising issues of quorum on the floor of the House.

Mr Agyekum who was speaking in an interview at the end of the three days orientation in Ho in the Volta Regional admonished his colleagues in the Minority to do their best to come together and be punctual in the chamber to ensure government business goes on.

“I do not think we would have problems; with this orientation it has been good for us and I think our colleagues who came to this orientation know that it is for us to come to the chamber and work for mother Ghana”.

On the issue of cost cutting being the reason why the Minority did not come to Ho for the orientation, he allayed the fears of his colleagues in the Minority stating that President John Mahama has shown the way including cutting down on the number of Minister to sixty (60) and directing the Finance Minister to do same.

He added that the new National Democratic Congress (NDC) government would do a lot in the interest of Ghanaians to ensure they get the needed economic relieve; and in terms of food security there would be interventions to ensure availability of enough food at affordable prices, stating that the government is committed to reducing dependence on imported food items by increasing local production.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Minority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo Markin says the Minority on the Appointment Committee has boycotted the remaining of the vetting due to the conduct of the Chairman of the Committee, Bernard Ahiafor.

The Minority has indicated that they will not okay the passing of the Deputy Minister of Justice and Attorney General designate, Justice Srem-Sai, thus he would not be approved by consensus but will be by Majority decision.

Same with Yusif Sulemana, Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources designate as well as Jusif Jaja, Deputy Minister designate for Tourism, Arts and Culture.

In an interview with the Minority leader, he pointed out that since tomorrow is the Message of the State of the Nation Address, the Committee would not seat but on Friday, February 28, 2025 they would only participate depending on the conduct of the Chairman of the Committee.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Member of Parliament for Mpraeso Davis Opoku Ansah has chastised the Minister of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation, Samuel Nartey George for violating the independence of the National Communications Authority by his directive to the Director General to close down some radio stations.

He stated that the Minister does not poses the legal authority to direct the National Communications Authority to regulate enforcement of actions under section 3 (1) of NCA Act, 2008 (Act 769).

The MP in a statement on the floor of the House pointed out that “except as otherwise provided in the Act, the Authority shall not be subject to the direction or control of any person or authority in performing its functions.
Whiles similarly the electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775) reinforces this independence in section 2(4), broadcasting service require frequency authorisation by the NCA and section 9 (1) spectrum usage requires NCA authorisation.

In Section 58 (1) the NCA controls, plans, administers and licenses the radio frequency spectrum”, he said.
Mr Opoku Davis further noted that the Minister’s directive to close certain broadcasting stations directly contravenes these provisions and if allowed to remain in effect, could set a dangerous precedent for political interference in independent institutions potentially extending beyond the NCA to the Electoral Commission, the judiciary and other democratic entities.

“Mr. Speaker, the Minister’s role is confined to policy direction not enforcement. Section 97 (1) of Act 775 states, “The Minister may, on the advice of the Authority by legislative instrument, make regulations generally to give effect to the provisions of this Act”.

And section 41 and Act 775 similarly limits the Minister’s power to policy directives, not operational decisions. The directive issued in the media advisory oversteps legal boundaries and constitutes executive overreach.
Again, due process was ignored even if the affected stations encounter licensing issues; the law specifies a procedure for addressing such matters.

Section 9 of Act 775 required formal notification of the alleged breach, a reasonable timeframe must be provided for rectification and the station must be allowed to appeal before enforcement action is taken, he added.

He said the directive is not merely regulatory overreach, it constitutes an assault to press freedom, as article 21 (1) (a) of the 1992 constitution assures freedom of expression including media freedom. Government directed shutdowns without due process convey a chilling message to journalists and media organisations that their operations are subject to political approval.

“A free press is vital for democratic accountability and this unconstitutional interference must not be tolerated”.
He urged the House to act swiftly to prevent any further abuse of power and have submitted a half-hour motion summoning the Minister to appear before parliament to explain this unlawful directive.

“Summon the Minister of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation to clarify their unlawful directive to the NCA, instruct the NCA to suspend all enforcement actions related to the Minister’s directive until due process is confirmed. Charge the Committee on Communications and Constitutional and Legal Affairs with investigation whether the Minister acted unilaterally or under political influence”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The flyer with the above headline is fake and does not reflect what the Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya, Faustina Elikplim Akurugu has said during a recent interview with Ghanamps.com.

During an exclusive interview with Ghanamps.com reporter, the MP DID NOT at any point in the conversation expressed her inability to handle the constituency.

The public is therefore advised to disregard the flyer making rounds as it is the hand work of some faceless individuals to tarnish the image of the MP.

Attached is the link to the original story:

https://ghanamps.com/dome-kwabenya-mp-advocates-for-a-split-of-the-constituency/

Editor’s  Bench
Ghanamps.com

In the spirit of transparency, accountability and in line with her social contract with her constituents, the Member of Parliament for Dome/Kwabenya, Faustina Elikplim Akurugu is to replicate the state of the Nation Address in her constituency dubbed ‘State of the Constituency Address (SOCA).

This novelty, she stated is hoped to promote inclusive governance to carry the people along the path of development.

According to her just as Presidents of Ghana are mandated by the constitution to give Message of the State of the Nation Address (SONA), she is going to be accountable to her constituents every year and that will push her to work harder, “because at the end of the year, I need to go and face my constituents, and they will question me and give me advice as governance is not for one person. We have to come together as a community when you go to various communities, they will have various problems and they will let you know what they want you to address first”, she said in an interview with Ghanamps.com.

She emphasised the importance of consulting the constituents especially when one is taking development projects to the various communities, as she recounted her experience working with World Vision, stating that at some point “when we went to a village, we did not consult with the people over there, children move from one village to another to draw water; we were thinking they needed borehole without consulting them.

Then we dug a borehole for them. We came back to assess how the borehole provided to the community was going, but we noted that the children continued to go somewhere else to draw water”.

“We had to go and sit down with people in the Community as to why they were not using the borehole. When we did, we noticed that when you get to the village, there is only one room that the parents and children shared. In the morning, the parents will intentionally ask the children to go and draw water; they go far by the time they come back whatever the father and mother have to do will be done before the children come back. So, the borehole we built rather went in there to destabilize the way they do their things”.

This has therefore been her experience over the years and has given her reason to always engage people and get their priorities as to what they want first.

Meanwhile, she affirmed that SOCA would be done alongside regular Town Hall meetings.

The MP who was speaking on her vision for the Dome/Kwabenya constituency also noted that safety and security will be given attention as she pointed out that last week Monday, she toured the whole constituency to ascertain the state of things currently. And as part of her observation, it came out that the lightening system is poor, so she has taken it upon herself to lighten up the constituency.

Again, the constituency does not have a fire tender in case of fire outbreak, so a call has to be placed for a fire tender station at either Madina or Amasaman and it’s a worrying development.

In the area of job creation, she said she will explore various avenues to create job opportunities to the youth including training about thousand constituents in skills in artificial intelligence (AI), among other scholarship opportunities.

Also, she disclosed that they will be tapping into the President’s free TVET agenda as well as take advantage of local contents in terms of infrastructure developments in the constituency.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com