Author: Enestina GhanaMPs

Member of Parliament for Assin Central Ken Ohene Agyapong has set the records straight that he did not run away from the chamber when the House had its emergency recall on Thursday, November 7, 2024, as journalists seek to ask.

According to him they were in a caucus meeting, and he was asked to engage the Rt. Hon Speaker Alban Bagbin as they got wind that the NDC group was occupying seats to the right of the Speaker which usually belongs to the Majority.

“When I entered the chamber there was proceedings ongoing so it’s not deliberate that the NPP refused, we had to engage the Speaker, I am not in leadership they respect my opinion and I know Speaker as friend before I even entered Parliament. He was my company lawyer, and I give him that respect and sometimes I go to him to share ideas.

So I was asked to this time around to engage the speaker since he is my man. Unfortunately our caucus meeting took so long and there was no TV for us to monitor what was going on, “so young man I was not running away, we were coming to consult the Speaker and the Minority before we go in there unfortunately when we got there he was sitting, we had to walk away”.

“Now, the question is, where NDC was sitting, where did you want me to go and seat. Do you want me to go and pull my chair from my colleague from the other side? No, we do not want the chaos that happened at the beginning of the lifespan of this parliament to happen, so peacefully I walked out with the deputy Majority leader and the two whips”.

Mr Agyapong who said his major concern is the preservation of the peace of the country said, “we have nowhere to go, only Ghana, so we should be mindful of whatever we are going to say. This politics where journalists have taken an entrenched position and politicians, it will not help us. I am begging you, what happened today, we were not boycotting, we wanted an understanding and the meeting took too long”, he affirmed.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kenndy Ohene Agyapong has bemoaned the turn of event on Thursday, 7 November 2024, when the emergency recall of the House could not achieve success, with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) group in Parliament occupying the Majority side of the House.

“Assuming the NDC wins the 2024 elections with their current posture; will they get two thirds of Members of Parliament to take decisions? He questioned.

Again, if the NDC are saying the former Speaker Rt. Hon Oquaye set a bad example and you are using that to take a position, “so what happens if you win election and you do not get two thirds, do you expect the NPP to cooperate with you to rule the country? That’s my fear for Ghana. Whatever is going on, if we do not put an end to these political issues, we will see worse things in Parliament come 2025?”

According to him, his major concern is the people of Ghana and the peace of the country. “How many weeks do we have left for the country to go through what it’s going through? Do not think it is only the NPP going through this but it is the nation Ghana”.

Next month is going to be Christmas, workers are not going to have their salaries and parliament has to approve budget. “I decided not to talk but what I saw at the conference centre when I was coming, I am pleading with the media to be very objective, taking entrenched position to support a political party will not help this country”.

“I do not care of whoever wins, so long as we have a peaceful country that you can breathe, I have been to war-torn countries and I know the suffering people are going through; that is why I do not preach for war”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Parliament of Ghana has suffered another indefinite adjournment having been recalled from similar situation under an emergency recall at the behest of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Group in parliament.

As at the commencement of sitting on 7th November, 2024, the House was without the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority.

The NDC group as per their earlier stand rightfully assumed the Majority group ready for the day’s business.

The Speaker said it was unfortunate that the signatories to the request for the recall were absent from the House, “therefore matters that they wanted us to handle which were admitted for the consideration of the business committee are not on the Order Paper”.

And like the previous instance, “the House had quorum to sit, but we have no business before us to transact because the Business Committee as you know they prepare a report, and this report is adopted by the House as business agreed by the House to transact during the course of the week”.

In the absence of that, he said there is no other authority that can put business before you which you have not adopted to transact.

“In view of the failure of the business committee to sit, as a result of those who requested for the recall to show up, we are compelled to once again adjourn the sitting of the House.

Knowing the challenges we are facing, it is not advisable to be adjourning from day to day, and so I will proceed once more to adjourn the meeting indefinitely and the meeting, this extra ordinary meeting is accordingly adjourned.”

Ghanamps.com

Hon. Abena Osei Asare becomes First Female Minister of State at Ghana’s Finance Ministry

The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Bagbin pursuant to Article 112 (3) of the 1992 Constitution and the Standing Orders 5 and 53 of Parliament of Ghana has summoned parliament to sit on 7th November, 2024.

Parliament which until the indefinite adjournment by the Speaker was sitting at the Dome of the Accra International Conference Centre will converge at the same venue at 10:00AM.

It is worth of note that the Speaker, earlier in the week assured a five-member delegation of Council of State led by the Chairman, Nana Otuo Siribuor, of his preparedness to recall the House when they called on him to learn at first hand, happenings in the legislature in recent times, resulting in the adjournment of the House indefinitely.

Ghanamps.com

“History made: Techiman North’s first female MP re-elected for a second term” Hon. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare

Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament is to attend the 67th Conference of the CPA international at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia from the 3rd to the 8th of November, 2024.

The Speaker informed a five-member delegation of the Council of State, led by the Chairman, Nana Otuo Siribuor, when they called on him on Wednesday, October 30, 2024 over the impasse in Parliament leading to the Speakers indefinite adjournment of the House.

Mr. Bagbin is leading the Ghana Parliamentary delegation to the conference, which also includes the former Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for Suame, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, the two Leaders of the House, two Whips, the Clerk to Parliament, and other officials of the Parliamentary Service.

Speaker Bagbin, the immediate Past President of CPA International is expected to hand over to the newly elected President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Speaker of the Parliament of New South Wales, Australia.

Ghanamps.com

Former Majority Leader and a Member of the Parliamentary Service Board, Abraham Osei-Adu said the commotion between the Legislature and Supreme Court in the declaration of some four seats vacant may lead to some disaster.

According to him every Ghanaian is concerned about the seeming commotion between the two arms of Government.

In an interview, he pointed out that Ghana needs to have a national budget before the end of the year December 2024, “we cannot go on like this”, he lamented.

Ghanamps.com learnt that there is a Parliamentary Service Board meeting today, but the issue of the commotion is not part of their agenda and their mandate.

“It is for the MPs and the Speaker, but we will see what we can do about it; we are heading towards a disaster”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin has inaugurated a Parliamentary Supplementary Office Complex in the presence of Parliament House.
A former Majority Leader in the fourth Parliament Abraham Osei-Adu has lauded the whole idea of the office Complex that houses the Parliamentary Institute and called for efforts to better maintain and hope it produces quality products.

In an interview just after the inauguration, he noted that it is a nice day for Ghana as the institute will train Members of Parliament (MPs) and non-MPs.

“Mayors, Assemblymen and women and chiefs before they get appointed and elected to office can come and have training here”, he said.

He added further that, when they visited the Republic of India, they saw such a fantastic facility there and it is his hope that, the Ghanaian Parliamentary Institute will even be better than that of India.

Again, he said that there should be a Bill in Parliament to give it legal backing and make it permanent by passing an Act.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin has inaugurated a Parliamentary Supplementary Office Complex adjacent to Members of Parliament Office complex at job 600.

According to him the Parliamentary Service Board for the past three year and half years has implemented various polices and measures to improve support service to Parliament. Central to the reform has been the approval of a new organisational structure and recruitment of some new officers to fill vacancy in key positions to bring more professionalism.

In addition, at the commencement of these reforms, the Board observed the urgent need to further expand and improve infrastructure of the Institution alongside the reforms.

The Office Complex will accommodate the Parliamentary Training Institute and other Specialist Departments.

He noted that the board, together with Management, will continue to improve the infrastructural facilities and create working environment of comparable international standards.

As we unveil this building for use by the Service, I encourage each of you to take ownership of this space; let us make it our own by taking very good care of it through proactive maintenance culture. It is my prayer that this facility will continue to stay fit and functional for the benefit of the present and future generation, he stated.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com