Category: General

The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Ishmael Ashitey has called for collaborative efforts from the Metropolitan, Municipal and the District Assemblies within the Region to deal with the deteriorating sanitation condition.

Leadership of the Minority in Parliament have indicated that they are not aware of the recruitment of new security personnel for Parliament and are opposed to the move.

They describe the new security recruit as “Delta force /invincible forces and are calling for their immediate removal without a delay.

Parliament on Tuesday has a closed door meeting, investigations carried out by ghanamps.com indicates that it had to do with the new security being recruited.

Member of Parliament for Builsa South Dr. Clement Apaak had earlier raised issues with Parliament engaging a private firm to provide security for MPs saying it would not be accepted.

He suspected the recruits were being drawn from the dreaded vigilante groups affiliated to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) such as the Delta Force, Invisible Forces among others.

And had been engaged by Parliament and are undergoing training on weekends at both the Chamber and Job 600.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Parliament will take a final decision on a petition calling for the withdrawal of the controversial Legal Profession Regulations 2017 from the House on Thursday February 1, 2018.

Association of Law Students had petitioned the President to impress on Parliament to vote against the regulation.

General Legal Council laid the Regulations in Parliament in mid-December 2017, in response to a Supreme Court order for a clear admission procedure into the Ghana School of Law, and call to the Ghana Bar.

The proposed LI in question, among other things, states that the General Legal Council will conduct an entrance exam for the admission of students to the school, and conduct interviews for all applicants who pass the Ghana School of Law Entrance Examination.

The LI is expected to become Law in February, 2018, but the law students maintained that the document when passed in its current form will only restrict access to legal education.

Chairman of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, Ben Abadallah, said in an interview that Parliament will hold final deliberations on the petition on Friday.

“The committee met them on Tuesday and we have not taken any definitive decision on their petition. The Committee will meet on Thursday with the subsidiary legislative committee before we can take a definitive decision on their petition.”

He further stated that, Parliament will withdraw the regulation if the Association’s petition is supported by two thirds majority of Members of Parliament.

“It’s either to press upon the General Legal Council to withdraw the regulation failing which it is their prayer that two thirds majority of Parliament will have the regulations annulled. If by the end of the day Parliament is persuaded by their submissions contained in the petition, then we will report to the plenary to have the regulations annulled.”

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Minority in Parliament on Tuesday sort to know the where about of the Speaker, who is acting as President in the absence of the elected President Nana Akufo-Addo and his Vice Dr. Bawumia.

First Deputy Minority whip Ahmed Ibrahim raised the issue on the floor of the House, when he quoted Order 13 (2)

“Whenever the House is informed by the clerk at the Table of the unavoidable absence of the of Mr. Speaker, the First Deputy Speaker shall perform the duties and exercise the authority of Mr. Speaker in relations to all proceedings of the House until Mr. Speaker resumes the Chair, without any further communication to the House”.

He added that resuming sitting after weekend swearing of the Speaker as acting President, there had not been any better communication.

Leader of government business and Majority leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu called on the House to come to a determination on the issue, because there had been instances where the Speaker had been in Parliament in his office doing business.

And the first and second Deputies had to take over affairs of the chamber and an announcement had not been made to that effect.

He further pointed out that, during the turner of former Speaker Justice Banford Addo, the first Deputy Speaker Doe Adjaho was in the chair presiding issues were not raised, but the Speaker was in her office.

According to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, the House should come to a determination as to when the “absence” is applicable. Is it when out of Ghana or what?

What about if the Speaker is not in the Chamber but in his office performing a business in the House or had travel outside Accra in the other regions performing business, let us come to a determination as a House, he said.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

The Controller and Accountant General, Eugene Ofosuhene has told Parliaments adhoc Committee that the Ministry of Trade and Industry erred in using public account to receive monies from private businesses in the Ghana Expatriate Businesses Awards saga.

The decision by the Ministry in issuing the General Counterfoil Receipt (GCR) and its official account to collect monies and transfer same to the Millennium Excellence Foundation contravenes regulations 14 of the Financial Regulations Act of Ghana, he said.

According to him, if the Ministry had contacted him, he would have kicked against it and rather advice for the opening of a separate account for that purpose.

He said this when he appeared before Parliaments five member adhoc committee investigating allegations of collections and levies from expatriate businesses to enable them sit close to the President of the republic during an awards ceremony.

The committee which was expected to have presented its report to the plenary last Tuesday, January, 24 was given up to 31st January to submit the report due to its inability to complete its work on time scheduled.

The extension was reached based on a mutual agreement among leadership of both sides of the house following a request by the committee.
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The delay was due to the failure of the expatriate businesses last week to appear before the adhoc committee which had to reschedule to meet them in camera.

It will be recalled that on January 5, 2018, the Minority Chief Whip,Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak moved a motion at an emergency sitting of Parliament urging the House to investigate the alleged levies collected by the Ministry of Trade & Industry of the Ghana Cedi equivalent of various sums up to US$100,000.00 from expatriate businesses and related matters during the recently held Ghana Expatriates Business Awards in Accra.

According to him, the documents at his disposal clearly showed that some monies were collected from expatriates, noting that such was unethical.

The motion was seconded by the MP for North Tongu, Samuel OkudzetoAblakwa.

By Christian Kpesese/ghanamps.com

In compliance with the dictates of the 1992 constitution, for the second time within a week, Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Michael Oquaye has been sworn in as acting President of the republic by the Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo at a brief ceremony in Parliament House last Saturday.

The swearing in was necessitated by the departure of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who will be away from January, 27-January, 31 to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the 2018 Ordinary African Union summit and then proceed From Ethiopia to South Africa, where he will attend the funeral of the late South African legendary trumpeter, Hugh Masakela who died last week.

The Chief Justice administered the oaths of allegiance and President to the Speaker amidst shouts of “yeah…yeah…Mr President, reshuffle!, reshuffle!! by the lawmakers.

The swearing in of the Speaker for the second time in a week however did not go without expressions of reservations by the lawmakers who ordinarily should have been in their constituencies attending to other equally important issues.

Ras Mubarak, Member of Parliament for Kumbungu disclosed his intention to go to the Supreme Court to seek a review of its earlier ruling on the matter, where two citizens challenged former Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho who refused to repeat the oath any other time the President and the Vice President were out of the jurisdiction.

Managing Director of Accra base, City FM, Samuel Atta-Mensah, and a United States of America-based Ghanaian lawyer, Prof. Kwaku Asare, in 2015 filed a suit at the court, to among other reliefs, seek an interpretation of Article 60 (12) of the 1992 Constitution, which requires that the Speaker takes the oath of office each time he is to act as President.

The Court ruled that the Speaker must take the oath any other time.

Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Etse Kwami Dafeamekpor, on his part said the 1992 Constitution was silent on whether or not the acting President could hire and fire a government appointee, hence the need for clarity.

He also expressed concern about whether the President’s traveling to a funeral is of more importance to issues facing the development of the country.

Lawyer Dafeamekpor also raised about the economic cost of Parliament’s sitting on that Saturday for the swearing in ceremony to the national purse.

Article 60(11) of the 1992 Constitution stipulates that: “Where the President and the Vice-President are both unable to perform the functions of the President, the Speaker of Parliament shall perform those functions until the President or the Vice-President is able to perform those functions or a new President assumes office, as the case may be.”

By Christian Kpesese/ghanamps.com

Three Ministers of State have been programmed by Parliament this week to respond to various questions relating to their sectors.

Roads and Highways Minister, Kwesi Amoako Attah is expected to answer the highest number of five constituency specific questions.

The questions stands in the names of North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Bongo MP, Edward Abambire Bawa, Garu MP, Albert Akuka Alalzuuga and MP for Daboya/Mankarigu, Shaibu Mahama.

Energy Minister, BoakyeAgyarko is expected to answer two constituency specific questions standing in the name of MP for Daboya/ Mankarigu, Shaibu Mahama and Central Tongue MP, Alexander Roosevelt Hotordze.

Local Government and Rural Development Minister, Hajia Alima Mahama is also expected to answer an urgent question standing in the name of Member of Parliament for Nkwanta North, John Kwabena Bless Oti.

The Nkwanta North lawmaker is seeking to know whether districts that were created in 2007 without seed money for take-off would be considered in the 2018 formula.

In a related development, Parliament has summoned Local Government Minister over media reports that, the Birth and Deaths Registry has banned the registration of names such as Nana, Nii, Nene, Togui, Junior among others.

The Minister for Local Government Ministry is expected to justify why the move by the Registry. Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu raised the issue on the floor according to a newspaper publication.

He stated that the President of the land, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo bears the name Nana as well as many members of Parliament who bear similar names that is expected to be banned.

By Christian Kpesese/ghanamps.com

Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo on Saturday sworn in the Speaker of Parliament Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye to act as President for four days, in the absence of President Nana Akuffo-Addo.

The President is out of the jurisdiction to attend an African Union (AU) summit and in the absence of the Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia who is seeking medical attention in the UK.

According to the Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu for the Speaker to take the oath of allegiance in less than ten (10) days was legally needless and unnecessary as repetition of the oath is against the oath Act 1972.

He called on the Executive arm of government or a Member of Parliament to come with a private members motion to amend the schedule of oath.

The Chief Justice was clever enough for not mentioning the word, “haven been elected to the high office of the President, the Speaker has not been elected to the high office as the President”, he said.

So we should as a Parliament seek to delete or amend this words so that it would read, “on the bases of Article 60(11) (12) of the constitution” then we proceed to take the oath under Article 93, he pointed out.

He said Parliament has the power to legislate and make laws, “we must jealously protect and guard it, the duty of the judiciary is to interpret and adjudicate it”.

And called on the President Nana Akuffo-Addo to act timely on the elevation of the constitution to address current development of our governance.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Professor Mike Aaron Oquaye will be sworn in for the second time this month as acting President of the Republic as President Akufo-Addo leaves for an AU summit in Ethiopia on Saturday.

Parliament will convene for the exercise Saturday morning around 8am.

Speaker acted as President from last Sunday to Tuesday when both the President and his Vice were out of the jurisdiction.

Mr. Akufo-Addo left for the investiture of new Liberian President Oppong Weah in Monrovia while his vice, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, is on a medical leave in the UK.

Dr. Kwabena Donkor in an interview indicated that he had been vindicated with an earlier interview he granted that the law that allows the swearing in of the Speaker in the absence of the President and his vice should be revisited.

“I sincerely think that there should be a constitutional amendment so that wherever the president is, he still remains the president of the republic of Ghana.

“If he is on leave that is a very different issue or if he is incapacitated. But as long as he is representing the country on official business he does not cease to be the president of Ghana. Are we now saying we have two presidents?

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Nomination of the Special Prosecutor (SP), Martin Amidu has been referred to the Appointment Committee, by the Speaker of Parliament Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye.
Official communication of his nomination for the position came to Parliament on Wednesday from the President.

It is however unclear when Martin Amidu will appear before the Committee to be vetted.

The President entreated the House to deal with the nomination with as much dispatch as it had done with ministerial appointments.

“It is my respectful hope and expectation that the dispatch which characterized the approval of my Ministerial-nominees by Parliament last year will be extended to the consideration of Mr. Martin Amidu’s appointment,” a letter from the President to the House, read by the Speaker said.

Mr. Amidu was named as the country’s first Special Prosecutor earlier in January by President Nana Akufo-Addo at a short ceremony in Accra.

His appointment is subject to Parliamentary approval, but it is widely expected that he will be passed by the House to take up the position.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com