News:
Hon Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah
March 9, 2022
A member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Right, Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah has served notice that the brouhaha over the invitation of former Members of Parliament from Guinea Conakry and Burkina Faso would be resolved today, Wednesday, March 8, 2022.
On Tuesday, March 8, 2020 for more than three hours after a colorful opening of the first in-person Extraordinary Session, lawmakers were divided over the presence of their former colleagues from Guinea and Burkina Faso. A section was in favour of adoption of the work programme, while others were against its adaptation with the presence of their former colleagues.
This resulted in heated debate where emotions went high with the Fourth Deputy Speaker, Adja Satu Camara Pinto from Guinea Bissau presiding over proceedings and allowed as many as possible lawmakers to share their views.
Third Deputy Speaker from Togo, Memounatou Ibrahima who was outside the hall in the Ministerial complex when she stepped in told lawmakers they should break for launch, by then cool heads would prevail for them to proceed with affairs of the day by adopting the working agenda.
Mr. Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah in an interview noted that the whole procedure boils down to procedural issues and can be resolved as the Speaker invited his former colleagues from Guinea Conakry and Burkina Faso, and recounted earlier incident in Sierra Leone where the Malians were prevented from taking their seat.
“The coup that happened in Mali, the whole of the Malian Parliament was suspended and the Malian Government should be suspended from every ECOWAS institution. Heads of states met and decided that the two should be suspended from ECOWAS institutions and that included the ECOWAS parliament”.
And for them to come to Liberia and their colleagues were invited by the Speaker, they need to understand why he did that. The Speaker, was however, not in the hall after the opening ceremony, when they were about to adopt their work plan.
Again, from the third Deputy Speaker the understanding was that, it was normal when one ends his or her time with the parliament they were called back to say goodbye to your colleagues and “I believe that was what the Speaker did by inviting our colleagues from Burkina Faso and Guinea to bide us goodbye until they are restore back to civilian rule”.
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He indicated that because their names were mentioned on Tuesday morning as part of people who were in attendance, one of his colleagues raised the issue, “that is what has created the problem. Under normal circumstances they are no longer MPs because they have been suspended from their National Assembly, an issue that should be resolved but because it was not resolved it has drag us into this”, he emphasized. |
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com/ Liberia