Category: General

As the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) moves to the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi for its National annual delegates conference this weekend, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku extends his warm welcome to all delegates and party faithfuls.

“In the wake of the party converging for its important event in the life of the party in the spirit of, “our determination and commitment to Ghana’s development, I welcome all delegates and party faithful’s from far and near to the Ashanti Region”, Dr. Apraku wrote.

“I pray for travelling mercies and safety for delegates, friends and families on their journeys; “may we have a fruitful dialogue at this year’s conference”.

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Minister for National Security Albert Kan Dapaah has told Parliament the chartered flight travel of former president John Dramani Mahama between 2013 to 2016, cannot be disclosed because they are cloth with rules of confidentiality and state secrecy.

Mr. Kan Dapaah’s response follows a question by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dormaa East, Paul

Apreku requesting to know the cost of air travels of the former President using charted flights between 2013 and 2016.

But the National Security Minister on Friday, December 17, 2021 told the House the funds were covered under operational funds of the National Security, and it is not a general practice in the intelligence community anywhere to make the suggested disclosure public.

The Dormaa East lawmaker did not ask further questions because he was content with the answers provided by the Minister on the floor.

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The RT. Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has unreservedly apologized to the nation for the misconduct of some Members of Parliament during proceedings on the floor of the House while he was absent.

The Speaker in his first formal communication to the House since returning from his medical leave said “the conduct of some members raises some fundamental issues bothering on a complete disregard of parliamentary practice, procedure and process of the House”.

According to him, having read the Order paper, votes and proceedings and the official reports of the days missions, and is convinced that “we should accept the views of the conscience of the nation that we owe Ghanaians an apology”.

“I As the Head of Parliament, the voice of the Legislature, who speaks for and on behalf of Parliament, hence the title Speaker, I, with all humility, apologize on behalf of the House and all the members, for the aberrations of conduct and behavior of members on those days. I take responsibility for what happens in the House and I admit the House is neither dignified nor exalted by those rancorous and unruly behaviors of members. I promise to do everything within my power and authority to lead the House to chart a path of transformation, decency and change, a change for the better.

The conduct of members on those days also touches on the legality of the decisions arrived at in the House and how we arrived at those decisions. It will help for members to look at these issues dispassionately, in humility, devoid of egos and partisanship. As a House of honor, dignity and measureless might and majesty, members of Parliament should, for a while, allow the 1992 Constitution, the enabling laws, precedents and the Standing Orders of the House to lead the way.

According to him, it is important for “members to think about how to strengthen the work of this House and by extension, strengthen Ghana’s democratic governance. Members need to consider the precedents we set by every decision and action we take in this house. Over and above that, members must bear in mind that as Members of Parliament, they also represent the people – the citizenry – not just political parties.”

“Hon. Members, just try to recollect, or view a playback of the proceedings or read the Official reports of those sittings, and you will appreciate what I am referring to. What happened was grave disorder with its resultant comedy of errors and I will not take lightly a repeat of such disorder and indiscipline in the House”, he added.

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Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin after his absence from the House for two weeks, returned to the chamber on Thursday, December 16, 2021 in his official communication to the House pointed out that he has no intention to superintend over a parliament to frustrate Government business.

According to him, he would equally not preside over a weak House neither be tagged as an errand boy of the Executive arm of government.

“This House is fully focused in discharging its mandate and will do so without any fear or favour, affection or ill will in ensuring the ultimate best interests of the Ghanaian people are served”.

He urged the House to continue to strengthen their channels of communication, foster dialogue, encourage broader stakeholder consultation and allow the processes we have adopted for our burgeoning democracy to thrive.

On the issue of rejection and approval of the budget, the Speaker noted that the House needs to make progress in a manner that is consistent with the laws of Ghana, and ensures we are allowing the governance of the country to thrive.

Touching on the letter presented by the finance minister on concessions and modifications to the 2022 Budget Statement, he said “I am aware of a letter originating from the Minister for Finance which letter purports to make some concessions and modifications to the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government”.

He again stated that the legal basis of the laying of such a letter and what actions Parliament may take as a result leaves a lot to be desired; stating that he had however, held discussions with the Leadership of the House to find a path that is faithful to law, respects our rules and processes and ensures the governance of the country does not grind to a halt.

In the light of that leadership and the Speaker agreed that the following steps be taken;

1. The Minister responsible for Finance comes before the House with an amended statement of the Budget with the said modifications and concessions.
2. These modifications and concessions will then be adopted by the House and the revised document with the estimates will stand committed to the various Committees of Parliament.

• I am aware the Committees have begun consideration of the estimates. It would thus be their responsibility to reconcile the revised estimates with what they have hitherto considered and submit a report for the consideration of the House.

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Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources who is also acting as Gender minister, Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah has told Parliament that, the ministry of Gender, children and social protection is doing everything possible to resolve the issues of street children on the streets of Ghana.

She explained that, data available indicates that, about Sixty Six Through street children (66,000) are on streets of Ghana which the ministry is seriously engaging with them to get the root cause of the situation.

The minister told Parliament that, in their operations, the main three hot-spots they visited, the people they met were all from Niger.

Madam Dapaah added that, the ministry has begun drafting letters to the ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Niger Embassy for negotiations and evacuation taken them back to their country since they are all ready and willing to go back to their country.

The minister’s response came up in Parliament Wednesday, December 15, 2021 when the MP for Amenfi West, Mr Eric Afful asked the acting minister, what the ministry is doing to curb or deal with the rising situation of street children in Accra and other cities in the country.

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The Speaker, Alban Bagbin has indicated that staging of walkouts by Members of Parliament (MPs) do not invalidate ongoing parliamentary proceedings.

The veteran politician therefore questioned the decision of the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu to nullify the rejection of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government by the Minority on Friday 26th November 2021, when he, the substantive Speaker, presided over the House.

He avowed that he did not act beyond his powers when he put the question on the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government to Members of the House describing Osei-Owusu’s decision as strange to him.

According to the former NDC seven-term legislator who was elected as Speaker of the august House on 7th January 2021, walkouts are legitimate avenues by which Members of Parliament can express their grievances; adding that, the practice is part of parliamentary procedures.

The Speaker in his submission, commented on issues from the general conduct of the House to specific actions and decisions taken in his absence and lamented some of the scenes and vowed to ensure that they do not repeat going forward.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament when he resumed his seat to preside over proceedings on Thursday, December 16, 2021 following his over two-weeks absence when he travelled for medical checks in the United Arab Emirates, the Speaker recounted that since 1997, he has seen Members of Parliament walk out of the Chamber on many occasions.

The main areas he touched on included quorum for the conduct of business, quorum for voting in Parliament, Deputy Speaker being counted for the purposes of quorum and a letter presented by the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta on concessions and modifications to the 2022 Budget Statement.

The Rt. Hon. Speaker reiterated that the House was duly constituted for its work for the purposes of business and voting in accordance with Articles 102 and 104 respectively and the public record of the Votes and Proceedings of the House on the 26th of November lends credence to this position.

He asserted that he does not believe that overturning the earlier rejection of the Budget was a decision the First Deputy Speaker should have taken and pondered whether a Vice President can preside over a cabinet which had earlier on taken a decision on a subject matter presided over by the President, and without consulting the President, get the Cabinet to overturn the decision earlier taken.

It may be recalled that while the Speaker was away, the First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu overturned his ruling that rejected the 2022 Budget on Friday November 26 and cited that the Speaker erred in his ruling.

He indicated that the House did not have a quorum when the Minority National Democratic (NDC) Party MPs in Parliament voted against the 2022 Budget on Friday November 26, 2021 enabling the Majority New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs to vote and approve the Budget on Tuesday, November 30, 2021.

The Minority in Parliament under the leadership of Haruna Iddrisu filed a motion to challenge the conduct of the First Deputy Speaker over his ruling on the motion to overturn the approval of the 2022 Budget Statement but the First Deputy Speaker rejected the motion against his ruling reversing the rejection of the Budget.

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Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Dr. Sidie Mohamed Tunis, has on Tuesday, December 14, 2021, paid a courtesy call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, the seat of the Nigerian Presidency in Abuja.

The Speaker briefed His Excellency on the cardinal objective of his tenure, which is the election of Members into the ECOWAS Parliament through Direct Universal Suffrage, and solicited the support of Nigeria towards actualizing this cause.

“Your Excellency, bearing in mind the numerous advantages appertaining to the direct election of Members into the ECOWAS Parliament, we ask that you please consider granting this advocacy your fullest support. We are convinced that with your support, we are on our way to safe landing,” the Speaker said.

The Speaker also thanked the Nigerian Government for the provision of land and sought presidential intervention to accelerate the construction of the new Headquarters of the ECOWAS Parliament, expressing anticipation that the project will be concluded within the life span of the current administration.

Concluding his remarks, Dr. Tunis lauded the Government and people of Nigeria, through President Buhari, for the enormous support they have rendered the ECOWAS Parliament since its founding.

“Your Excellency, we are confident that we can continue to count on your usual and untiring assistance as we collectively carry on the most needed task of strengthening democracy and the rule of law across the West African sub- region,” the Speaker concluded.

President Buhari welcoming the delegation, praised the Honorable Speaker, whom he said was leading the Parliament to its rightful democratic competence.

He expressed his fullest support for the Direct Elections of Members into the ECOWAS Parliament, provided that it will be achieved at minimum cost to the Community.

His Excellency reaffirmed the commitment of the Nigerian Government to ensuring that the Parliament’s Headquarters is constructed in time.

“Nigeria has accepted to host the ECOWAS Parliament and we will do all we can to make your stay comfortable,” he concluded.

 Dr. Tunis was accompanied by the Third and Forth Deputy Speakers, the Chairman on Political Affairs, Peace, Security and African Peer Review Mechanism, Secretary General and some Senior Management Staff of the ECOWAS Parliament.

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Minster for Trade and Industry Alan Kojo Kyerematen has said to ensure that the private sector in Ghana harnesses the benefits of the AfCFTA Agreement; a National AfCFTA Coordinating Office has been established to coordinate the implementation of the AfCFTA in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders.

According to him trading under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) commenced officially on January 1, 2021, and Ghana was the first country in Africa to establish Customs Procedure Codes to facilitate trading under AfCFTA.

More importantly, a comprehensive National Policy and Action Plan for AfCFTA have been developed and are currently being operationlised.

This includes an Enterprise Support Programme component designed to identify and assist companies in Ghana to directly target specific AfCFTA market destinations and to export to these markets.

So far, about 200 companies have been identified and the Ministry is currently undertaking enterprise level audits to determine the specific types of support needed to enable them to enter and compete in the Continental Market.

Member of Parliament for Mpraeso, Davis Ansah Opoku asked the sector Minister steps it is taking to ensure that the private sector in Ghana harness the benefits from the AfCFTA agreement.

This, the Minister said, “Mr. Speaker, to facilitate trading under AfCFTA, the Ghana Revenue Authority has been designated as the Competent Authority for issuing Certificates of Origin to cover exports under AfCFTA”.

Additionally, Mr. Speaker, to ensure optimal participation by the private sector, the National AfCFTA Office has undertaken several stakeholder consultations with both the private sector and key public sector agencies that have important roles to play to facilitate effective participation of the Ghanaian private sector in AfCFTA trading.

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Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kojo Kyerematen has told Parliament currently under the One District One Factory (1d1f), one hundred and fifty-three thousand seven hundred and eighty-two direct and indirect jobs had been created, with one hundred and six companies (106) in  operational.

According to him as at December last year under the 1d1f, one hundred and thirty-nine thousand, three hundred and thirty-one jobs had been created under the scheme.

“Mr. Speaker, to date, there are 278 IDIF projects at various stages of implementation, 148 are under construction and 24 are at the mobilization stage under the 1DIF initiative”

He further told the House, One Hundred and Sixty-Five (165) out of the 278 companies are new projects representing 60%, whilst 113 are existing companies, representing 40%. The 106 companies that are currently operational have created a total of 153,782 direct and indirect jobs, up from 139,331 in December 2020.

“Mr. Speaker, it is expected that when the additional 148 1DIF projects currently under construction are completed, the cumulative number of direct and indirect jobs created will increase to 288,599”.

This came to light when the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso, Dr. Kingsley Nyarko wanted to know the current number of completed factories built under the 1d1f and the estimated number of jobs created.

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The Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Rt. Hon. Dr.  Sidie Mohamed Tunis has expressed optimism that in the year 2022, the regional law making body stands a chance to achieve a lot of its work and mandates.

Speaker Tunis made this remarks on Tuesday, December 14, 2021 during his speech at the closing session of the 2021 Second Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament held in Abuja, capital of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In his remarks, the Speaker said that considering that 2021 it would mark the middle of his tenure and with the level of enthusiasm they have displayed in 2021, “I have no doubt that it would be a fruitful year.”

Whilst dilating on the 2022 budget of the ECOWAS Parliament, Speaker said he is gratified to announce that the Parliament’s Budget for the year 2022 has been adopted by the ECOWAS Council of Ministers.

He said that the budget promises to achieve long lasting effects, especially in areas of youth and gender development. “I wish to use this medium to extend my profound gratitude to the AFC and the Management of the ECOWAS Commission, for supporting the Parliament’s Gender programme by approving funding. I wish to pledge that we would utilise the funds appropriately, towards meeting the objectives of promoting gender based issues within the general framework of our current Strategic Plan,” Speaker Tunis stated.

In addition to the consideration of the Community budget, the ECOWAS Parliament Speaker said that the Session also dedicated time to examine several referrals from the ECOWAS Commission. “One of which was the draft Vision 2050. Here again, I must admit how proud I am with the seriousness with which we approach the assignment. We were able to consider the document and make our recommendations within the shortest time possible. Let me remind us all that the Vision 2050 document is very central to the future of our region,” the Speaker assured.

He informed the gathering that the ECOWAS Parliament first activities of 2022 will be a Parliamentary Seminar from 26th to 28th January and its First Extraordinary Session from 31st January to 4th February, in Lome, Republic of Togo.

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