Category: General

The outgoing Speaker of the fifth Legislature of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Rt. Hon Dr. Sidie Mohamed Tunis has thanked President Dr. Julius Maada Bio and the good people of Sierra Leone for the opportunity to serve the Parliament.

According to him the nomination and endorsement by the President was carefully considered and his guidance and support enabled him to preside with dignity and honor, in his four-year tenure of the Community Parliament.

He made these remarks at the opening of the first Parliamentary seminar of the Community Parliament in Freetown Sierra Leone on Thursday, January 30, 2024, leading to the end of the tenure of the 5th Legislature on the theme: “Illegal Mining and its Implications in the ECOWAS Region”.

“I stand here, before your Excellency and this august assembly, feeling fulfilled and humbled to have been favored with the opportunity to serve our people and to report that mission was very successful. Please accept the expression of my very deep and affectionate feelings of infinite gratitude, Mr. President”.

Dr. Tunis further used the occasion to thank Heads of States and Government during the lifespan of the fifth legislature, former President of the Republic of Niger H. E. Mahamadou Issoufou under whose tenure he took the oath as Speaker.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who attended the opening of three of the parliament’s activities, including an ordinary session and accepted to champion direct elections into the ECOWAS Parliament.

Again, he extended appreciation to President Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea Bissau who provided sound and credible advice on all issues concerning the parliament, not leaving out President Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who is serving as the current chair of the Authority of Heads of States and Government.

Threat Of Illegal Mining In The ECOWAS Region

Touching on illegal mining, he stated that the threat of illegal mining in the ECOWAS region is having far-reaching implications on the security, socio-economic and environmental fabric of the region.

Despite the potential of the mining sector to positively impact the lives of community citizens, the complex interplay of security, social-economic dividends, environmental impacts on the soil and waters, have emerged as pressing concerns that demand immediate investigation and finding sustainable solutions.

According to him, a careful revision of the numbers available provides a compelling need to give attention to the region’s mining sector. As an example, nearly 80% of mining in Northwest Nigeria is being carried out illegally, which has increased conflict since 2014, spreading across Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi and Zamfara States.

Referring to the contribution of the mining sector to the GDP of some Member States, the ECOWAS Vision 2050 document indicates that Ghana benefits 7.5%, Burkina Faso 10.2%, Cote d’Ivoire 4%, while Nigeria receives only 9%. With a properly regulated mining sector in the region, it is expected that our various economies would be far more impactful.

Furthermore, illegal mining of precious minerals in West Africa has succeeded in not only depriving Member States of much needed revenue to grow their economies through improved GDP, but has also created instances of instability through banditry, kidnapping, thuggery and in some cases insurgency.

Therefore, to examine the phenomenon of illegal mining, as well as its socio-economic, security and environmental implications on the advancement of Member States, the leadership of the Parliament found it befitting to dedicate the last Parliamentary Seminar of the Fifth Legislature to the topic.

“We expect that at the end of the seminar, we will have a greater appreciation of the regional mining frameworks and challenges to their implementation and make recommendations where regional collaboration can be fostered to boost the sector.”

Progress made by the Fifth Legislature

As the leader of the Parliament, Dr. Sidie M. Tunis also provided some insight on some progress made by the Fifth Legislature.

HE assert that no sooner after the inauguration of the Fifth Legislature, the infamous Covid 19 pandemic began in earnest and most of the ambitious plans appeared to have been stalled and “many doubted that we would get going again.”

Furthermore, the international environment was also marked by major conflicts such as the Russia-Ukrainian war in Europe. Meanwhile, the harmful effects of climate change, increasingly perceptible in all our countries, impacted and continue to affect our health, agriculture, fisheries, energy, the environment and many other sectors. In addition to these international threats, the regional scene was marked by terrorism, insecurity and unconstitutional regime changes.

During our four-year term of office alone, our region saw four unconstitutional changes of power, in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger. These situations constitute a threat to democracy and the rule of law, as do the subtle amendments to the constitution designed to extend presidential terms of office.

“Despite these sad developments, we braved the storm and nourished the fervent hope that our term of office would be full of ambition and rich in events. Today, Your Excellency, I am pleased to report that the ECOWAS Parliament takes pride in four years of progressive and undisrupted conduct of the duties we pledged to undertake.

In line with its vision and strategic plan, the Parliament was able to exercise its prerogatives in accordance with the Supplementary Act and carried out its mandate effectively.

Despite the extremely difficult context the region finds itself, the Parliament was able to hold almost all its statutory meetings of the legislature, namely seven (7) ordinary sessions and eight (8) extraordinary sessions.

In terms of legislative work, I am pleased to say that the fifth ECOWAS Parliament has been fruitful and successful. The intense activity in which each Member has participated with interest, has enabled us to examine and issue opinions on 83 draft Community acts and adopted 94 resolutions”, he emphasized.

Ghanamps.com

The Rt Hon Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has indicated that since he assumed the role of Speaker and Chairman of the Parliamentary Service Board, he has prioritized the capacity building of Parliamentary staff. According to him, he firmly believes that enhancing staff competencies is the surest way to effective service delivery and improved productivity.

Speaker made this statement during the opening ceremony of a four–day professional development training program for Senior Officials of the Parliamentary Service of Ghana in Adukrom.

He indicated that the recent implementation of a new organogram for the Parliamentary Service has resulted in expanded functional areas and more challenging roles, particularly, for Senior Management Officials of the Parliamentary Service. In view of that, the Board has appointed some key officers to occupy some of the vacant positions while working assiduously to complete the rest of the appointment process.

According to him, the Service therefore expects that these Officers perform critical roles which emphases on implementation of strategic policies, coordination of operational functions, and quality control.

He added that “This professional training you are about to undergo is not only timely but vital in preparing you to effectively perform your new roles under the current organogram as well as navigate and lead through the implementation of our ambitious goals for the next five years. This is particularly crucial in the wake of the ongoing implementation of a robust performance management system to recognize and reward excellence and foster a culture of accountability within the Parliamentary Service”.

The Speaker further stated that, he has initiated the process for the development a new 5-year Corporate Strategic Plan to replace the old one which ends this year. According him, the new plan will provide strategic direction for Parliament for the next five years to align with the evolving goals and the dynamic legislative landscape.

“As we embark on the development of our new Corporate Strategic Plan, it is essential that each one of you, as leaders and key contributors to our legislative body, are equipped with the skills and knowledge to drive this vision forward. The plan’s success hinges on our collective ability to execute strategies effectively, manage challenges efficiently, and seize opportunities to innovate and improve “he indicated.

The Clerk to Parliament, Mr. Cyril Oteng Nsiah in his welcome remarks attested to the capacity and competence of the facilities and their Institution and therefore urged Officers to actively participate, engage with the facilitators and peers, and embrace the learning journey with an open mind. According to him, “the insights and skills you will acquire are not just for your personal growth but are crucial for the collective advancement and efficacy of our Parliament”.

Topics to be covered during the training section includes but not limited to Emotional Intelligence, Resiliency, Effective Leadership, Proficiency in Negotiation and Presentation Skills.

The training programme is being organised by the Parliamentary Service in collaboration with the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) from the United States of America. The training programme, is yet another strategic step forward in our journey towards excellence in legislative governance.

Ghanamps.com

The ruling party’s constituency Secretary at Dome/Kwabenya Larbi Ansah said the government is still delivering on infrastructure projects despite the global challenges.

According to him if Ghanaians would understand that the current challenges the country is going through is a global problem it is possible for them as a party to break the eight years mandate Ghanaians have given them.

In an interview he noted that Ghanaian parents are not paying fees for the secondary education of their wards, and more importantly children from all backgrounds have the opportunity to access even grade ‘A’ schools.

This, he said was possible through the introduction of the free Senior High School (Free SHS) where all one needs to do is to get a pass mark.

Again, we are seeing improvement in health infrastructure through the Agenda 111 initiative, education, the security has new equipment being bought for them, helicopters, vehicles, motorbikes and recruitment is going.

Mr. Larbi further pointed out that with the increase in secondary education it comes to play that there would be increased intake into the tertiary education and the current government is doing well on that.

He touted the NPP as one that comes to government and takes care of the masses citing the national Health Insurance Scheme, and Metro Mass Transport.

Kwaku Sakyi- Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Dome/Kwabenya Constituency Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ansah Larbi said the party has learnt lessons from the 2020 Parliamentary elections that resulted in a hung parliament; a situation that has created a lot of problems for them as a ruling government.

According to him they have gone back to the drawing board and realised what brought about this hung parliament, “so you noticed when we had our orphan constituency primaries, we did not have issues, everything was smooth, no agitation.”

“Again, if there was any agitation it was very minimal, and we are hoping same for the sitting MPs and I believe it is going to be calm throughout and that means we have learnt our lessons.”

On his thoughts on the large number of experienced MPs that would not be returning to the next parliament, he noted that he is not worried about it at all as no one was born an MP, adding that the said experienced ones also started from somewhere.

“And if you do not give an opportunity to a new one how do you see the persons experience? The old must give way to the new; the fact that you are leaving parliament does not mean you will not have the opportunity to mentor those new ones coming and the new ones coming should go to the old for that experience and is the way to go.”

He affirmed that anyone who is seeking to be MP today has nurtured that dream for a long time, “you need to start learning before you get there, he stated.

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The Dome/Kwabenya Constituency Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ansah Larbi has called on the party’s delegates to choose a parliamentary candidate that appeals to the constituents and would help the party retain the seat for the party ahead of the 2024 general elections should on Saturday, January 27, 2024, chose a candidate who is liked by the constituents.

According to him in the last four years the constituency has been hot, but things are calm and delegates have already taken their decision; they know who they want to vote for from the three aspirants – the incumbent, Sarah Adowa Safo who is seeking re-election, Mike Oquaye Junior who is not new in the race as well as Sheela Oppong Sakyi, the new entrant.

The constituency secretary in an interview further pointed out that measures have been put in place to ensure that whoever loses does not go as independent candidate, and further added that in the year 2020 primaries when Oquaye Junior lost, he did not go independent; he came around to do his best to campaign for Sarah Adowa Safo, then NPP Parliamentary candidate.

“We are all NPP, we are one family and we need to put ourselves together and execute a very massive campaign to break the eight; that is what is important. If we fail to break the eight whoever wins as parliamentary candidate and for that matter MP cannot do much to help the constituency so I think everybody knows that and they know party first”.

On the issue that played out sometime with the absence of the sitting MP which became a topical national issue, he noted that the delegates know the aspirants and what they should do he said if it is going to play out in the primaries,  he noted that the delegates know the aspirants and what they should do those going to vote are thousand eight hundred and forty.

He said the delegates represent those who vote for the NPP, so it is very important to ensure their preference is met; adding that they have realized some drop in the number of people who voted for the party in the previous election.

“We have forty- four thousand registered voters not voting in this constituency in the last primaries so there is something wrong somewhere; we need to find out why they did not vote. Maybe their voices were not heard; we did not listen to them or represent them and did not do what they wanted.

We have educated the delegates that you are the mouthpiece of the polling station, you represent as executives so you should before you choose a candidate listen to the ground; go to the market, trotro stations in your local area, those who use public transport listen to what the people are saying”.

Again, if the delegates make a choice that does not go down well with the people it will have a negative effect on the party.

In the case of the sitting Member of Parliament, Sara Adowa Safo he noted that she has been in office, delegates have the right to speak about what she has done, if the masses are happy with her so be it but if they are not happy with her then, I do not think there is a point continuing with her so delegates must listen to the masses.

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The Suhum Constituency Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic (NPP) Party Stephen Asukpa Odame said all is set for the party’s parliamentary primaries on Saturday, January 27, 2024; a two-horse race between the incumbent Member of Parliament Kwadjo Asante and Frank Asiedu Bekoe.

According to him the two have been cleared and they are going about their campaign as eight hundred and twenty-four delegates are expected to cast their votes in the parliamentary primaries.

The constituency secretary explained during a visit by Ghanamps.com that so far there is a clean campaign going on between the two aspirants who have adopted a one on one and social media platforms to reach out to the delegates since this is an internal contest, and it is expected that they will have a decorum campaign.

And so far there has not been any major incident and they are not expected to deviate from the standards and they expect them to uphold the standards.

On the issue of the loser going independent, he noted that whiles the two aspirants were filling the form, it was part of the undertaking that whoever is not successful in his bid will not go independent.

Furthermore, the constituency secretary explained that the NPP in Suhum is very strong on the ground and in the unlikely event that any losing candidate goes independent that will really not affect the fortunes of the party in Suhum.

As to whether the constituency should not be grooming MPs to gain experience rather than have first term MPs being contested keenly, he noted that we are in a democratic state and the party’s constitution gives that opportunity that every four years an opportunity should be given for other members of the party to contest.

He was however quick to admit that there is the need to build the capacity of an MP that means serving for quite some time to become an experience MP, “but we have chosen the path of democracy.”

Again, we have history of an MP in Suhum serving one term, Ransford Agyapong who was unseated by Fredrick Opare Ansah who served as an MP for sixteen years, he added.

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The Madina Constituency Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Bosompem has bemoaned the level of retrogression going on in the constituency since the current Member of Parliament Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu deposed the former NPP MP Boniface Abubakar Saddique.

According to him the previous MP on the ticket of the ruling NPP introduced a lot of development that impacted the welfare of constituents.

In an interview with Ghanamps.com he noted that a lot of social interventions were brought to the constituency under the leadership of the previous MP including boreholes to provide water, construction or roads as well as the astro turf which is generating a lot of revenue.

Mr. Bosompem recounted that in the 2020 Parliamentary election the NPP Parliamentary candidate was voted out because of the opposition NDC’s propaganda, that the constituents do not need roads but rather money in their pockets; a message that got down well hence they lost the seat to the opposition.

He further explained that roads around the Madina market, the market to taxi rank, Rawlings Circle and UPAS were all done under the NPP, while the security personnel also benefited from motor bikes.

Also work on the Damfa road project was started by the former MP which the current MP only makes noise about and ended up engaging in hooliganism trying to bring people to demonstrate against the government instead of going to the sector Minister to lobby for the completion of the roads.

Mr Bosompem emphasised that the kind of development Madina should see are no more there, adding that Madina has been left to its fate. “What is the MP currently doing? We cannot see him, he is rather talking about gay rights try to give privileges to gay people. That is what his focus is on; his focus is not on the development of the constituency.

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The President, Nana Akufo-Addo in a letter sent to Parliament has explained that his decision not to assent to Criminal Offences Bill ii, ( Armed Forces 2, 2023) is due to potential financial impact on the national consolidated fund and also a violation of Article 108 of the constitution which requires that, all must be presented on behalf of the government.

President Akufo-Addo further explained that after consultations with the Attorney General, he was advised that the Ghana Armed Forces Amendment Bill 2023 which is a private member’s bill sponsored by the Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis Xavier Sosu seeking to replace the death penalty with a life sentence has financial implications on the consolidated fund of the state where it is required that, it is a duty of the state to feed all inmates in prisons across the country.

The Rt Hon Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin also expressed his disagreement to the explanation of President Akufo-Addo.

But Mr Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority leader expressed his disappointment in the comments of Mr Bagbin for using offensive words against the President.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Parliament has given approval to Narcotics Control Commission Regulations 2023, an L.I that seeks to legalize the cultivation and management of cannabis of 0.3 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content.

Contributing to the passage of the L.I, the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery made it clear that, this is not a regulation for the cultivation of weed, adding that the particular type of cannabis the L.I proscribe has not yet been cultivated in Ghana.

He explained that the Interior Ministry is now preparing to bring such type into the country.

But the Minority Chief Whip who doubles as MP for Adaklu, Kwame Agbodza Governs took a position against the legalization of growing of cannabis in Ghana since it would worsen the cases of mental health challenges among the youth in the country.

Mr Agbodza further disagreed with the justification that, legalizing the growing of the cannabis would reduce the issues of unemployment and boost Ghana’s economy.

He queried that if all the resources including gold, cocoa, timber, oil and E-levy could not solve Ghana’s economic challenges, how possible is it that the legalization of weed could perform such magic.

 

His assertion was also challenged by the chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee who doubles as MP for Bolgatanga east, Dr Dominic Ayine, and explained that, the public should not get things wrong with the interpretation that, Parliament has legalized the growing of weed but rather, what has been legalized is the THC  type which Ghana do not have it here but yet to be brought under the supervision and regulation of the Interior Ministry.

Ghanamps.com

 

President of Ghana United Traders Association (GUTA) Joseph Obeng is advocating for the banning of all selected items in the proposed Legislative Instrument (LI) which intend to restrict some goods that are imported into the country that cost the nation a lot of foreign currency.

The GUTA President made the call when the business consultative forum of Ghana petitions the Trade and Industry Committee on Parliament, as the Ministry of Trade and Industry is seeking restrictions on importation of twenty-two selected items.

Other association members of the joint business forum are food and beverages of Ghana, importers and exporters association of Ghana, Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), chamber of automobile dealership Ghana, and Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in all five member associations.

The GUTA President further told the Committee on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, that it would be better to ban all those listed items in the L.I than to frustrate importers with bureaucracy, nepotism, corruption and others when such L.I is introduce into the system, adding that Ghana has experienced the era of issuing import permit before, yet it didn’t help the system.

“The Minister has told us if we do something and you are not happy with it go to court; we are not going to court because we want to import the shortfall to serve the people of Ghana, we have been here before when late President Rawlings introduced restriction on essential commodities.

We had this restriction in the past and we were supposed to depend on local products you put in order for the local products and it take more than six months before you get it, in 2018 we put restrictions on importation of rice, “what good reference do we have in there, let us know?”

He further pointed out that as the representative of the people of Ghana, it is important when they are crafting a law they factor into it the needs of their representatives especially, those in the business community, for the law to benefit wider Ghanaian than only a few people.

He acknowledged that the L.I would help Ghana add value to its locally manufactured products so that we become self-sufficient. “Manufacturing is never complete unless it reaches the final consumer; we serve as a vehicle to send the goods to the final consumer”, he told the Committee.

Again, making locally manufactured products had been relegated to the background and the focus is only on import restrictions, and data should be provided to that effect, and whiles I am being restricted in importation the items needed should be made available within, he stated.

“We use Nigeria as an example, they closed their borders, it had ninety percent capacity for the production of rice, they had to hold the bull by the horn close their shops and were able to achieve what they sought to do and, in this regard, there has not been provision of any data”.

He affirmed that the L.I before parliament does not give them assurance that there would be the break of monopoly and does not contain rules; once it is done prices are going to be compared, all it seeks to do is to restrict importation.

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