Category: General

Fifty-five Bills are expected to be presented to Parliament as the second session of the seventh Parliament begun with Members of Parliament returning to the House .to start business after the Christmas break.

Bills expected to be presented to the House include Legal Profession Bill (Amendment) Bill, 2018, Business Regulatory Reform Bill 2018, SME Development Bill 2018 Ghana Telecom University College Bill 2018 Sugar Bill, among others.

There are three Bills at the committee level, the Legal Aid Commission Bill 2017, with the Constitutional Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Taxation (used for Fiscal Electronic Device) Bill 2017 and Standards for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information Bill 2017 both with the Finance Committee.

In addition, Twenty-Five instruments are expected for presentation, including Heritage Sites Instruments, 2018 Receptive Countries Instruments, Ghana Ports and Harbor Authority (Amendment) Regulations 2018 etc.

There are ten notice of questions to the various sector Ministers, Forty-three referrals of various reports and legislations at the committees.

Members of Parliament (MPs) from both the Majority and Minority ghanamps.com caught up with indicated that they are prepared to start business of the House.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

The Chiefs and People of Winneba in the central region have marked their 2018 edition of the annual Fancy dress festival amidst pomp and pageantry at the Advance park, Winneba.

The colourful event attracted tourists and well-wishers including those from the Diaspora who admire the sixty year old masquerading heritage of the people of Simpa.

Member of Parliament for the Effutu constituency, Alexander Afenyo-Markin underscored the importance of the fancy dress (masquerading festival) towards advancing the tourism potential of the area.

He assured of his commitment to support the development the masquerade festival to attract more tourists and bring investment to the area.

According to him, the Fancy dress festival is what makes Winneba a unique area in the whole country since it is the only town that celebrates a festival on a new year with the potential to attract investment to the area.

“This is what makes Winneba a unique place, the whole of the country, it is only Winneba, that the first day of the first month of the new year, we celebrate a festival like this, it is our desire to see this festival becoming a major festival to attracting tourism and investment” he said.

He decried the many problems that has bedeviled the celebration of the festival over the years and called for unity to advance the development of the area.

The festival which is celebrated annually on January, 1 is aimed at showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the area, bring the people together in unity for the development of the area.

The 2018 edition which coincided with the 60th anniversary of the fiesta which begun in 1957 was also used to raise funds to support the develop needs of the area.

Five masquerade groups namely Red Cross, Egyah, Nobles, Tumus and Royals participated in the 2018 fancy dress festival competition.

The competition commenced with a procession by all the five participation groups who were judged in the areas of match pass, slow dance, atwum and highlife dances.

The Effutu District Crime Officer assured of the Police commitment to protect life and property urged citizens to stay out of trouble.

The Winneba Development Association presented awards to some distinguished individuals for their immense contributions towards the sustenance of the fancy dress festival.

The 2018 masquerading festival was powered by Nice Media Ltd with support from Kasapreko and many others.

Christian Kpesese/ ghanamps.com

The Buipe and Yapei bridges over the White and Black Volta which have been closed down for repair works will be re-opened to traffic on Sunday, 24 December, 2017, Roads and Highways Minister has told Parliament.

The Minister directed for the immediate closure of the two bridges which are crucial to economic activity between northern Ghana and rest of the country which Engineers say were so weak they could collapse anytime.

He gave the disclosure on the floor of Parliament in a comment as the house approved an amount of GHC 532,689,187.00 for the year ending 31st December, 2018 for the Ministry.

The Roads and Highway Ministry requested over GHC 3 billion for its activities and programs but was granted a reduced budget of just a little over GHC 500 million.

This,the sector Minister noted, will affect the Ministry to undertake its overall objectives. .
According to him the Ministry needs a lot of money to undertake its activities.

The over GHC3 billion request he said was to help the Ministry defray debts owed contractors who were owed from up to five years without being paid and carry out its activities.

The road fund which is expected to generate GHC 1.2 billion from four sources including fuel levy constituting 94% of the total revenue, monies for toll Booth, the DVLA, and transit charges of foreign vehicles.

The current administration he said has done a lot in this few months and has paid over GHC 1 billion to road contractors.

By Christian Kpesese ghanamps.com

The continuous absence of Ministers of State to appear before Parliament to respond to questions from lawmakers has infuriated NDC Member of the Minority for Banda, Ahmed Ibrahim to call on government to hand over the governance of the country to them.

A year on since the last general election that brought the NPP government to power, the Minority NDC said the failure of Ministers scheduled to appear before the house to respond to questions cannot be allowed to continue.

The First Deputy Minority Chief Whip said government business in Parliament must be taken seriously and that if the NPP is not ready to administer power just a year after assuming that position, it should hand over to the NDC which is ready to govern.

“Just one year, if you can’t handle the power, give it to us, we are ready’’ he said.

The dissatisfied Ahmed Ibrahim noted that the frequent abruption of the work of Parliament is adversely affecting the work of the house, this he said is not healthy for the country’s democracy.

The following Ministers who were scheduled to appear before the house to respond to questions failed to appear last Thursday.

They include, Minister for Railway Development, Joe Ghartey, Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu, Minister for Works and Housing, Samuel Atta- Akyea and Minister for Regional Reorganization, Dan Botwe.

By Christian Kpesese/ ghanamps.com

Parliament has proposed new amendments to the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) to enable government focus on four priority areas instead of placing oil revenue into the Annual Budget Funding Amount.

According to the current arrangements in the PRMA, oil revenue for the country have been spread thinly on projects but have not made the desired impact on the people.

Mr Emmanuel Kwesi Gyamfi, Chairman of the Committee on Mines and Energy made the statement during an interview with the media in Parliament.
He said according to the PRMA, the Minister of Finance is to report to Parliament annually the amount of oil revenue that has accrued into the Petroleum Fund.

He said since the inception of the Act 815 in 2011 there is no detailed list of the projects that has been financed from the oil revenue which has been submitted to the House.

Mr Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, the Majority Leader suggested that government instead of putting the oil revenue into the Annual Budget Funding Amount should prioritize one project, say railways and invest the money in that, so that at the end of three years, the Accra Kumasi Takoradi railway golden triangle could be completed.

He expressed his glee that members of the minority support his proposal for the Petroleum Revenue Management Act to be amended to enable government focus and prioritize projects to invest the oil money in.

He however expressed concern over the VRA indebtedness to the Ghana Gas Company, which he said is as result of the high cost of gas being supplied by Ghana Gas to VRA.

He said the gas being supplied from Nigeria’s Delta State despite the distance is still cheaper than the gas being produced locally from Atuabo.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye has taken a swipe at the media in Parliament for not checking their facts before publishing.

He noted that the media is creating political mischief people, when issues come up, they will not place a single telephone call to check their facts.

Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye’s comments come in the wake of a publication in some section of the media with the headline: “Deputy Communication Minister sacked from Parliament”.

Minister of Communications Ursula Owusu Ekuful sort guidance from the Speaker of Parliament if the House had anything against her Ministry, because whiles she was in India on international assignment his deputy was prevented from answering question of the floor.

On Tuesday, the Communications Minister said, “this morning I can see Deputy Minister of Agriculture George Oduro and Deputy Health Minister, Gyedu Kingsley Aboagye were allowed to answer questions on the floor of the House”.
She further pointed out that it was very “derogatory” to her deputy as a person and the Ministry itself.

According to the Speaker, to the best of her knowledge he has not discriminated against the Communications Ministry and want the issue discussed further.

When the Speaker invited leader of Government Business, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonus for his comments, he noted that issue being discussed comes to him as news because he was hearing for the first time.

And recounted that, the Minority leader raised an objection that he saw the communication Minister, a day before the question was asked and did not see why the deputy should be on the floor to answer questions.

Whiles going back and forth, the time allotted for question time elapsed and since the answers to the question had been printed in the order paper it was deemed that the question had been answered.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

The Minority in Parliament, has singled out the Roads and Highways Minister, Kwesi Amoako Attah for commendation among President Akufo-Addo’s Ministers who attend to Business on the floor of the House.

According to the Tamale South lawmaker, the Roads and Highways Minster, has religiously attended to business on the floor of the House every Friday.

His comments come in the wake of most Ministers not attending to the House to answer questions or either asking their Deputies to respond to questions on their behalf.

“We struggle to get other Ministers to come to the House to answer questions, this attitude must change, we will commend those who are wealth commending for coming to the House to answer questions”.

I can understand the Minister of Roads and Highways, you do not have money that might be your problem but you still find time to come and attend to question on the floor, he said.

Mr. Speaker Ministers should not send Deputy Minster to come and respond to questions, we will also monitor through and when they come you can help us, if a Minister is not responsible to this House and comes he should queue.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

The Mine Workers Union had petition Parliament to intervene in Goldfields Ghana Limited’s planned retrenchment that could affect as many as 1,700 workers.

General Secretary, Prince William Ankrah, led some 50 members of the Union to the forecourt of Parliament to present a petition.

He noted that the petition was to drum home the point that the layoff would have a serious impact in mining communities.

And could put MPs under pressure from families suffering from the retrenchment which is expected to start before Christmas.

Goldfields wants to cut its losses at its Tarkwa mines in the Western region because it claims the mine has a remaining lifespan of not more than six years.

If it maintains its 2,500 workers, it could run at a loss considering the returns it could get from the depleted mine.

Goldfields Ghana’s Vice President and Head of Corporate Affairs, David Johnson, has said it has, therefore, changed its business model.

Instead of getting a new mining fleet at a high cost, it has engaged a contractor who already has a mining fleet to mine the Tarkwa concession.

The company, therefore, saves money because it doesn’t have to make multi-million dollar investments in a mine that it does not expect to last long.

Goldfields has not been comfortable with the word retrenchment. Its management has explained, the workers to be relieved will be absorbed by the new contractor.

But the Mine Workers Union has described the planned layoffs as a “ruthless business option”

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com