Category: General

Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Rt. Hon Joseph Ntakirutimana has advocated the support of ECOWAS and Nigeria for the emergence Tanzania’s candidate as President of the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU).

The EALA Speaker made this call on Thursday, July 20, 2023 in Abuja at separate visits to the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Rt. Hon Sidie Mohamed Tunis and Deputy Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representative, Benjamin Kalu and President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray.

He said that “the winning of Dr Tulia Ackson, Speaker of the Tanzanian National Assembly as President of the IPU is a win not just for East Africa but the entire African continent.”

The EALA Speaker during his visit to Kalu said that ”since the existence of IPU over a 100 years, this is the first time Africa will be having the opportunity to lead.”

He said that East Africa was seeking Nigeria’s and ECOWAS support, knowing how influential their voice was at the continental bloc.

“We came to Nigeria to see ECOWAS and you to campaign. The IPU has been there for more than 100 years and Africa has never got a chance to get the Presidency of this institution.

“Now, Africa has a candidate, the Speaker of Tanzania Parliament, Dr Tulia Ackson, who has been endorsed by the African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

“We came to get the support from ECOWAS and you who are a member of ECOWAS so that our candidate can be voted for.

“This is an opportunity that Africa must hold on to, so that we vote as Africa for this candidate for Africa,” NTAKIRUTIMANA said.

Kalu, who pledged the support of Nigeria and ECOWAS Parliamentarians to Ackson, said that the role of Nigeria in Tanzania winning the election could not be over-emphasised, adding that Ackson must promote the interest of Africa as IPU’s President.

He said that Ackson must foster the dreams of African citizens to reinforce unity to overcome the challenges of the continent.

“We are all one people, we must take steps to reinforce that unity. With unity we can deal with many challenges, slowing economic growth. We must not allow this to foster in the near future and we  want you to inform her that Nigeria has a big role to play in her aspiration and they need to get to know more about her manifesto and what she is taking to the IPU cannot be over-emphasised. We need to understand her vision, mission to the IPU as we throw our support towards her, Kalu said.

Speaker  Tunis also told Kalu that ECOWAS was about integration, and as such, the various regional bodies need to come together to support the African Union.

The ECOWAS Speaker said that on the issue of the candidacy, ECOWAS as a bloc was happy to know that Ackson had been endorsed by the AU.

In West Africa, Nigeria is the leader, Nigeria in ECOWAS is like United States in the UN. That is why we are always available to work with them, the National Assembly, and we have continued to receive their support,” Tunis said.

Receiving NTAKIRUTIMANA earlier Tunis pledged the support of the ECOWAS Parliament to Tulia’s candidacy, adding that it is an opportunity which would be in the best interest of Africa.We believe it is the time for Africa to come up. If we can have somebody like that, our own Africa to lead a body of the IPU, it will be in the interest of Africa and every African.

“It is our responsibility as ECOWAS to take the message to all the Member states,” Tunis added.

Hon. MLOZI Richard, member of the EALA representing Tanzania assured of Ackson’s competence and capability, adding that she would be the voice of the entire region and the women.

“We are here in Nigeria to seek all your support for Dr Tulia Acknson to be the President of the IPU.

She has had the opportunity of attending many meetings of the IPU and she understand the role of IPU in the world. She is also the President of African Geopolitical Group of IPU.Women have been marginalised in top decision-making positions, so if she is elected to be President of IPU, that will bring progress and empowerment, increase women’s participation.

“Dr Tulia Ackson is a very committed person, and I am sure she will be able to do this job very well,” Richard said.

Ghanamps.com

The Minority chief whip, Governs Kwame Agbodza has taken a swipe at his colleague the Majority Chief whip over statements that the Minority are the reasons why they do not have quorum to do business on the floor of the House.

According to him the Minority had earlier given notice not to be on the floor of the House any time their colleague MP from Assin North is standing trial.

“Look behind you, the seats are empty because many of your colleagues are out there; they are campaigning with Dr. Bawumia the Vice President. He is a key person to solve most of our problems, he is not at the office as we speak; he is campaigning somewhere. What has the absence of the Minority members who actually gave indications that we were not coming to work yesterday be the reason why your members were not up to form quorum”.

“The problem is yourself, if you produce your one hundred and thirty-eight (138) members, if you produce them tomorrow morning we shall provide our one hundred and thirty-seven (137) tomorrow morning.

Mr Agbodza was also not happy about the use of childish to describe the Minority, saying “again, he used this words, that I think he did not mean those words, we are not childish, we are bold about it; we said we would not be in the House. You could not do business yesterday because your own members are not coming to work, you cannot count fifty members, this morning let the country be aware the reason why parliament is not forming quorum has nothing to do with the Minority members”.

Mr. Agbodza made this remarks on Tuesday, July 19, 2023 on the floor of the House, where he asked the whereabouts of the 138 members of the Majority. “It should not be said anywhere that the absence of the Minority is affecting business of the House.”

But the Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh on his part noted that the said statement was not made on the floor of the House, adding that if his colleague wants to respond he knows what to do for the record.

“I never said your absence is affecting business of the House. I said it is inconsistent on your part to say you will boycott parliament yet you sneak out to participate in committee business because committee work is part of parliament’s work that for me cannot be contested, maybe we should have a day to debate this matter”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin on Tuesday, July 11, 2023 visited two media houses, RADIO XYZ and Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) in the Greater Accra Region.

The visit was to share and explain the purpose for celebrating thirty years of uninterrupted Parliamentary democracy under the fourth republic and also understand some operations of the media and their challenges.

Mr. Speaker touched on several issues hindering the work of media practitioners with respect to an existed legislations or laws and that, Parliament is considering to amend all those laws to give the media practitioners free space to operate.

He further explained that, there are four arms of government but not three as it’s been always said, and the media is the fourth arm which performs the greater task in terms of democracy and accountability to the citizenry.

And expressed worry about Ghana been placed at 62nd on annual press freedom index where in 2015, Ghana was at 22nd.

He touched on creation of some new committees in Parliament such as ‘Ways and Means Committee, Committee of Intelligence and others which will help strengthen the works of the four arms of government and also give the best to the citizenry in terms of democratic governance.

And added that, Parliament has revised its standing orders to allow the media to be present at all committee sittings except where the chairman want a particular sitting to be in-camera unlike previously where the media were disallowed to be present at committee meetings.

Ghanamps.com

Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin has summoned three Ministers to appear before the House to answer questions on why food suppliers at the National Buffer Stock have not been paid leading to their picketing at their office in Accra.

The Summoned Ministers are Finance, Education, and Food and Agriculture.

This came up when the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa drew the attention of the Speaker to this public interest issue.

“Mr. Speaker, can the three Ministers of Education, Finance, Food and Agriculture be invited to the House as to why the suppliers have not been paid even after picketing and sleeping outside for over four days in Accra”.

Deputy majority leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin explained to the House that, measures have been put in place to settle every supplier as validation of their invoices are being carried and this is information received from the Education Minister, Dr Yaw Adu-Twum.

The Rt. Hon Speaker recounted that he had earlier embarked on a surprise visit which was misconstrued as he taking away the functions of someone; but stated that as head of Parliament it is important to draw the attention to issues.

And all this is to assist the Executive arm of government to address some of these changes hence the reason why with the revision of the standing orders, a Committee like Ways and Means will be establish.

Ghanamps.com

As the crusade to get Community Parliament lawmakers elected is met with mix reaction, leader of the Liberian delegation Edwin Melvin Snowe Jr. believes the vision is still far from being realised despite it being a good idea.

According to him electing ECOWAS lawmakers does not have a popular view in the Community as those oppose to it talk about its economic implications; that the Community will not be able to foot the bills of lawmakers residing in Abuja-Nigeria and being paid from the Community levy.

The other reason is political, as some governments and people feel that if the parliament is given the leverage they will start interfering in the domestic affairs of some political states; “which some members are not comfortable with. Some also believe that ones the lawmakers are given that sovereignty they will go to the Community Parliament and make decision without fear or favor”.

And Some member states also still believe that if their lawmakers do not believe in the dreams and aspiration of the ruling political party, they will find a way of recalling the person or find a way of disrupting activities on the person at the ECOWAS Parliament.

In a telephone interview, he pointed out that the process of electing MPs is being undermined for the above reasons, “but I am one of those people who believe in the Speaker’s vision and I think it’s even in the treaty of the ECOWAS for the Community Parliament to have its own sovereignty; unfortunately that has not been welcomed”.

Senator Snowe Jr. emphasised, it’s not a popular view and hope the next legislation continue with the crusade of getting MPs elected because it’s in the best interest of democracy in our sub-region.

When questioned by myecowasnewsonline.com if this whole vision will see the light of the day? He noted that, “the sub-region is getting a new breed of leaders and the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of States and Government from Guinea-Bissau, young and dynamic H. E. Umaro Sissoco Embalo, President of Liberia H.E George Weah, Sierra Leone’s H. E. Julius Maada Bio as well as Ghana having its election to elect a new president next year with Nigeria having a new President H. E. Ahmed Tini Bu, “we have a new government, you will have someone who understands the workings of democracy and will not oppose the setting up of the community Parliament to give us that sovereignty; it’s very important for our democracy”.

On whether or not the budgetary allocation for the Community Parliament will not be sufficient to kick start the process of electing MPs, Senator Snowe Jr. pointed out that, fortunately for the parliament we have a Secretary General John Azumah who is a veteran accountant and understands the workings of the parliament, adding that conversation around the topic has revealed that the current budget to the Community Parliament can be used to fund elected legislature.

In addition, elected ECOWAS MPs will want to run day to day affairs in member states, “SG has assured us that with the current budget we do not need additional funds, we can run a successful programme with the budget that we have”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

In the wake of opposition political parties challenging electoral results in the West African sub-region, the only female from the Gambia to the Community Parliament is challenging the bloc’s member states to work toward acceptable election results by all political parties.

According to her there is the urgent need to work together to ensure elections in the sub-region are transparent, free, and fair.

She recounted in her own home Country, the Gambia, in 2021 where the opposition challenged the results of the election, but obviously the judges are appointed by the ruling governments, so when you say those challenging the election results will go to the court, “how credible will they be?”

She also questioned Judicial and Executive independence in the sub-region, and wondered if what happened in Kenya where the result was overturned could be possible in the sub-region. “We saw in Kenya how the result was over turned, do we hope that will happen in West Africa?, I doubt it”.

In addition she gave example of the opposition in Nigeria going to court. “What is going to come out of it? I am not saying the elections were not credible I was there as an observer and I will say they were free and fair from what I observed”.

As someone who has experience in election observation in the sub-region and beyond, she noted that she was not in Sierra Leone for their just ended general elections “but from what we are seeing from afar I will not say there were irregularities, because I have not been there during the elections, I have not seen it, but there are claims especially by the EU observation report which clearly stated that the elections were not transparent and was not done properly.

We need to look at all those things as a region if we want to move our region forward”, she noted.

And further noted that as a people we should try to accept the fact that not everybody will be on the same side, we should have a strong opposition, we should have a credible opposition for people to have trust in politicians.

Additionally, she believes the Community Court is the most credible ECOWAS institution and she gives them all the respect because of their professionalism. They have shown in one or two many examples, in the wake of citizens not having trust in the judiciary of member states with election petitions.

For example in my Country Gambia they have given judgment against our government and payment should be made by government to citizens; they are strong institution and should be given the mandate.

“If we take these challenges to our local courts I do not think anything will come out of it, I am not saying they are not credible, but if there is a doubt the people should be given a right to challenge freely and fairly”.

Madam Fatoumatta Njai further noted that as Community MPs they should ensure that each and every MP is seen as equal, that when they take decisions as colleagues but what she has observed at the ECOWAS may be its normal in every Parliament there is hierarchy, we have the Bureau they should be the head of the institution of the Parliament.
“I have seen MPs behaving as if they are first among equals, which I believe is not correct, that is why sometimes people feel relaxed and they do not want to attend sessions and do not want to contribute; that should not be the case in Parliament from my perspective”.

Touching on her take on the inability of Sierra Leon to present its Country report a the First Ordinary Session in Abuja- Nigeria, she said Sierra Leone has just come out of elections and the re-election of their president and “I would want to congratulate the Speaker Rt. Hon Tunis having contributed his part to ensure that the President of his Country was re-elected and for their parliamentary victory because she had just seen the results of their parliamentary election which was released on Saturday, July 1, 2023 in which they came with 88 seats and the opposition with 54 seats; so obviously they have come out with majority and I am not sure if its absolute majority”.

And not forgetting our other colleague Baah who was also the running mate of the opposition, so election is either you win a seat or you lose it; but it does not mean your dignity is lost. What they should focus on is working together.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Mr Kwabena Agyei Agyapong , a flagbearer aspirant of the New patriotic Party (NPP) has advised Ghanaian caterers to lay emphasis on the nutritional value of their meals.

According to him unlike in other jurisdictions where emphasis is given to the protein needs of the people where restaurants sometimes only serve dishes with only protein content, Ghanaian restaurants seems to focus more on the carbohydrate parts of our meal including banku, rice, fufu and other dishes made of carbohydrates.

Mr Agyapong who joined Agrihouse Foundation to mark this year’s Ghana Chicken Festival and the Ghana Poultry Day at the State House in Accra on July 1, 2023, said “we need to change our mind set about nutrition and it stems from how we even designate the names of our dishes because if you get to any restaurant you can see banku is ready, fufu is ready, ampesi; so we concentrate a lot more in Ghana on the carbohydrate; and that is not good for our health, and that is why a lot of people are walking around with diabetes but we don’t know because the starch content in these foods are very high and we need to de-emphasize that”.

He asserts that the opposite is what pertains at the continental restaurants. “You’ll see lamb, chicken, pork, fish and the meats, so they emphasis on the protein and whatever they add are usually the slices of carbohydrates foods”.

According to him, it is a lot of work for the dieticians, the nutritionist; and it should start from the school to help improve our health.

He said he expects the government to take this up and expect the participation of the Ministry of Agriculture in the Ghana Chicken Festival and the Ghana Poultry Day festival to be a bit heightened because the poultry industry has a lot of potential to not only supply the protein needs of the people but to employ a lot of people along the value chain and generate more income for the people.

Mr Agyapong also emphasized the need to scale up poultry production and consumption in in Ghana as the country is lagging behind producing just about 15percent of its poultry needs.

Agrihouse Foundation has instituted the Ghana Chicken Festival and the Ghana Poultry Day to be celebrated every year on July First, an initiative the Foundation hopes to ride on to make a strong case to officially institute July 1, for poultry farmers and Poultry production to breathe new life into the poultry industry and also scale up consumption and patronage of locally product poultry products.

Ghanamps.com

The Intestate Succession Bill, 2022 has gone through Second reading in Parliament House. Deputy Attorney General and Minister for Justice Diana Asonaba noted that it’s coming in to remove anomaly in PNDC Law 111 and provide a uniform intestate succession law that would be applied in the country irrespective of inheritance system of the intestate or the type of marriage that has been contracted.

According to her there is no or little protection in the customary law for a surviving spouse neither spouse had the right to the property of the other.

As changes in the Ghanaian system has render the present law outmoded the nuclear family has gradually eroded the significant of the extended family in a manner that pertain to the Western world that is giving the nuclear family greater prominence which is not which is not reflected in the existing law.

“Mr. Speaker the customary kind of marriage does not regard the wife as part of the economic needs of the husband as a result the wife’s claim to the husbands property is very limited, but currently there is a shift towards the wife in the economic needs of the husband and has reduced the influence of the extended family in the intestate succession”.

He however added that the current law does not make provision for polygamous marriage where the deceased survived by a number of spouses.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Abena Dapaah has told Parliament there is ongoing negotiation between Ghana Water Limited (GWL) and contractors for portable water to be supplied to larger communities in the Krachi East Municipality.

According to her as soon as statutory funds are approved and funds secured the project would commence for its implementation.

She further told the House the capital Dambai water supply system is currently dependent on ground water including the Oti River, Volta Lake seasonal streams as well as hand-dug wells.

Whiles there are about twenty-five (25) private and public mechanised water wells in the municipality with only ten (10) currently in operation, when the Member of Parliament for Krachi East Wisdom Gidisu want to know plans by the Ministry to install automated system to process water from the Oti River to supply larger communities in the Municipality.

Madam Dapaah in answering questions on the floor of the House on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 said the Ministry through GWL has engaged Messrs Pureco/Inzaag GmbH JV to develop the Dambai water supply project and being developed to meet the demand up to 2045 for Dambai and its environs.

The scope of the project includes the following:
• Floating raw water intake facilities on the Oti River

• Raw water transmission pipeline between the intake facility and the water treatment plant with a length of approximately 3km.

• All 11,5oom 3/day (2.53MGD) conventional water treatment

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Majority, of the Majority MPs on the premises of Parliament Friday, June 16, 2023 morning are joining two buses to be moved to the ruling News Patriotic Party office where flagbearer aspirant will file his nomination to contest the flagbearership race.

As early as 8:00am Ghanamp.com sighted most of the Majority MPs gathering and preparing to join two buses on the premises of Parliament to show their support to the Vice President Dr. Mahmud Bawumi.

Most of the MPs indicated that Friday, June 16, 2023 is going to be a busy day in the annals of NPP’s internal election.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com