As Ghanaian farmers celebrate farmers’ day on Friday, December 3, 2021 the ECOWAS Commissioner for Macro Economic Policy and Economic Research, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku has congratulated Ghanaian farmers on their day celebration.
According to him farmers are a generational blessing to humanity.
The larger Ghanaian story cannot be told in totality without a significant mention of “our cherished farmers”, he stated.
“The many economic contributions of farmers which extend even beyond the borders of Ghana are indeed enviable and worth giving expression in the core of our national life.
Our Country is forever grateful to your many good efforts and hard work.
AYEKOO to all actors in this life giving enterprise.”
Parliament on Thursday adjourned without transacting any business for the day.
Immediately after prayers on Thursday, December 2, 2021, at around 1:30pm, the Majority Chief Whip, Annoh Dompreh moved for the adjournment of the House citing a discussion between the leadership.
He was seconded by the Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzj who also asserts that the Members of Parliament would have to get to their constituencies early for the farmers’ day on Friday, December 3, 2021.
The Presiding Speaker, Andrew Amoako Asiamah subsequently put the question and the ‘Yes’ have it, and the House was adjourned.
The House has witnessed some drama since last Friday, November 26, 2021 when a one sided Minority rejected the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of government.
The Majority would overturn the Friday decision on Tuesday in a similar fashion through a one sided Majority side.
However, on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, tempers went high on the floor resulting in some chaotic scenes.
This follows the presiding Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu’s attempt to rule on a motion moved by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu who sought to also overturn Tuesday’s decision describing it as unconstitutional, and illegal.
The Minority raised a procedural breach by the Speaker, stating that in such a motion, he has no power to rule, instead, he should put a question for the House to take a decision.
This was never to be as the Speaker suspended the House for an hour, only for proceedings to resume with the Second Deputy Speaker chairing. He immediately adjourned the House without any further business.
The 2022 Budget and Economic Statement of government has suffered major setbacks following two different decisions taken on it by either sides of the House in an attempt to approve or otherwise.
While a one sided Minority on Friday November 26, 2021 with all it 137 members present rejected the budget statement when the Majority side of the House staged a walked out, another one sided decision by the Majority caucus with one 138 with the presiding Speaker included also overturned the earlier decision and subsequently approved it.
As expected, the Minority caucus relying on the same standing orders of Parliament and constitutional provision of the 1992 Constitution (Article 104(1), and Standing Order 109(1)) that regulates the process of decision making in the House; as relied on by the Majority side to overturn the earlier decision, also moved a motion to once again set aside the Tuesday, November 30, 2021 decision by the Minority.
The budget is currently said to be in limbo as the presiding Speaker Joseph Osei Owusu failed to put the question before the House on the motion by the Minority.
An attempt by the presiding Speaker to rule on the motion was fiercely rejected by the Minority stating procedural error on the part of the Speaker.
The resultant effect of this was a chaotic scene on the floor of the House forcing the Speaker to summarily suspend the House for an hour.
However upon resumption of proceedings the First Deputy Speaker could not return to the chamber, instead the Second Deputy Speaker took over …… who chaired proceedings could not return instead the second Deputy and subsequently adjourned the House.
Head of the Sierra Leone’s delegation to the Community Parliament, Chernor Ramadan Maju Bah has appealed to the President of the ECOWAS Commission Dr. Jean Claude Kassi Brou to send a high-powered delegation to his country to look into the prevailing issues if not addressed urgently may get out of hand.
Mr. Bah made this call on Wednesday, December 1, 2022 in Abuja when the Commission’s president presented the Community report at the ongoing Second Ordinary Session.
“Mr. President, there has been several complains in my country; we have talked about the judiciary, their independence, that of the police being biased and not being friendly with civilians. ECOWAS did a follow-up mission the last time but how far we have gone we don’t know”, he stated.
He told the plenary that as he speaks, there is a pending census that the government is attempting to hold but it does not have the support of the Majority of the population and the census being organised is for the people.
They have challenged it and raised issue with the international community divided, whiles the EU election observer follow-up mission was in Sierra Leone, they also raised questions about the independence of the judiciary.
And it is not only coming from within as the ECOWAS Commission should provide leadership in this matter. On Tuesday, November 30, 2021, “we learned that quite soon you would be taking your exit, we believe you have done a great job and want to exit gracefully, so doing follow-up mission between now and the time you leave is also very important”, he said.
ECOWAS Parliament Abuja Nigeria
He further pointed out that there are challenges with bye-elections and the local council elections are just around the corner this year, and the general election in 2023 so the high-level visit would send a good signal
He also revealed that recently, a new Electoral Commissioner for the Western Region was approved by Parliament, again there was no consensus. There are several other issues, “so Mr. President; I want to encourage you to get a team to Sierra Leone as soon as possible”.
In addition, he pointed out that most of the time when missions come to his country, they only know about the facts only when they have left the country, and stated that they want the process that would share experiences.
They are in Abuja – Nigeria representing the people of the Community, so if the country is visited without touching base with them, it would not serve the purpose for which they represent them, as the Speaker of the Community parliament has been making a lot of efforts to ensure they are visible in their respective countries.
According to him with poverty in the sub-region, food security should not be mortgaged; it should be the top priority on their list and at their last session they talked about early warning signs on which the Commission has been doing its bit but resolved that more needs to be done.
Speaker of the regional Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Rt Honourable Dr Sidie Mohamed Tunis has assured that the composition of the regional parliament will ensure that they represent the people of the region and in turn give them a voice.
Speaker Tunis made this assurance during his opening statement at the ongoing 2021 2nd ECOWAS Parliament Ordinary Session taking place in Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
During his statement, the Rt Speaker of the regional parliament said in fulfilling their activity program for the year 2021, “we held Delocalized Meetings, Fact Finding Missions, Election Observation Missions, as well as Parliamentary Oversight Visits. The reports from these activities will also be considered and adopted in the days ahead.”
According to the ECOWAS Speaker, the current session, otherwise known as the “Budget Session”, provides the opportunity, in accordance with provisions of the Supplementary Act, for Parliament to consider the Community’s Budget.
Specifically, he said, ECOWAS Parliament is expected to ensure that the estimates are directed towards programs that address the needs of the people.
He referred to Article 17.2a, which states that “after the consideration of the Budget by the Administration and Finance Committee (AFC), the report of the AFC on the Budget shall be presented to Parliament during the Parliamentary Budget Session.”
In fulfillment of this statutory responsibility, Dr Tunis said “we are expected to render opinion, including where necessary, proposals for the amendment to the draft Community Budget.”
Furthermore, the Speaker added that ECOWAS Parliament should ensure that allocation of resources reflects real priorities. “It is also not enough that the budget surmounts the immediate threats brought upon us by COVID-19, it should also advance efforts to make progress on other fronts and priorities, which our region continues to value: democracy, rule of law, peace and conflict resolution, the fight against terrorism, poverty reduction and climate change,” he said.
As a result, the Speaker said that “peace in our region can only be consolidated and sustained if we bring development to our people.” Therefore, he urged that in the exercise of their oversight responsibility as enshrined in Article 7 Paragraph C of the supplementary Act, “we must seek for greater accountability and transparency in the execution of the budget.”
Consequently, Speaker Tunis made a “clarion call to us all is that we commit totality to the enormous task at hand and work diligently to exhaust the work program for this session within the limited time we have available to us.”
Parliament on Wednesday recorded some chaotic scenes when the presiding Speaker Joseph Osei Owusu attempted to rule on a motion by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrusu to overturn Tuesday’s Budget approval.
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu coming under Order 50(1) of the Standing Orders pleaded with the Speaker to set aside the approval of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy held on Tuesday, November 30, 2021.
Basing his arguments on the votes and proceedings of Tuesday, 30th November, 2021, he said “the decision which was taken yesterday in adopting purportedly the budget statement subject to concessions in that statement was unconstitutional, in betrayal of our rules and standing orders, and betrayal of the 1992 Constitution.”
He also registered his displeasure with the process, stating that it was unlawful for the presiding Speaker to include himself in the quorum to take a decision on the floor of the House. He said; “Mr. Speaker, particularly so, that you in the chair added yourself to the number of members that made the quorum.”
Averting the minds of the Speaker to Order 48 (1): “The presence of at least one-third of all the Members of Parliament besides the person presiding shall be necessary to constitute a quorum of the House”, he contend that the House was 137 and not 138 since the Speaker could not have counted himself to the number to form a quorum for such a decision.
He said Tuesday’s “decision is illegal, that decision is unconstitutional; just as 137 cannot take a decision, the same 137 cannot overturn it”
The Minority Leader also asserts that the so-called concessions alluded to by the finance minister are not before the House, hence the House cannot accommodate them.
He called for the proper thing to be done, urging the finance minister to make those corrections in the budget to reflect the concession because Parliament is a House of record, and until that is done, they would rely on what is in the document before the House and “not in someone’s mind”.
An attempt by the presiding Speaker to rule on the motion was fiercely rejected by the Minority stating procedural error on the part of the Speaker.
This resulted in some chaotic scene on the floor of the House forcing the Speaker to summarily suspend the House for an hour, only for the House to resume with the Second Deputy Speaker in the chair.
Parliament has approved government’s 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, presented to the House by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, on November 17, 2021.
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Memnsa Bonsu pleaded with the Speaker to uphold the motion and set aside the impropriety conducted in rejecting the budget statement last Friday, 26th November 2021.
In his plead, he relied on Order 109(1) and Article 104 (1) of the Constitution both of which called for not less than one-half of all Members of Parliament present to take decisions. He said the 137 that rejected the budget statement did not meet the Constitutional requirement as contained in Article 104(1). “Mr. Speaker, it is clear, as I have registered that the number that was invoked, the Article that was invoked was insufficient to cover the determination of the question that was proposed for the support or rejection of the budget.”
The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei Owusu who chaired proceedings subsequently upheld the motion and declared the budget rejection as having no effect.
However, with the Minority side of the House absent during the sitting on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, the 138 majority members in parliament, including the Speaker, approved the budget statement through a voice vote.
A one sided 137 Minority members rejected the Budget Statement last Friday November 26, 2021, but this would be overturned by the majority side of the House.
Ghanamps.com
Parliament on Tuesday voted to overturn Friday November 26, 2021’s rejection of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of government.
Invoking Order 109 (1) of the Standing Orders of Parliament, and Article 104 of the Constitution, the Majority Leader pleads with the Speaker to uphold the motion and set aside the impropriety.
Order 109(1) – “No question for decision in the House shall be proposed for determination unless there are present in the House not less than one-half of all Members of the House, and except otherwise provided in the Constitution, the Question proposed shall be determined by the majority of the votes of the members present and voting”, And Article 104 (1) “Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, matters in Parliament shall be determined by the votes of the majority of members present and voting, with at least half of all the members of Parliament present”, he argued that the number 137 which rejected the budget statement on Friday did not meet the test of the Constitution under Aticle 104 (1).
According to him, the Speaker erred in relying on Order 102 – “A quorum of Parliament, apart from the person presiding, shall be one-third of all the members of Parliament. Order 102, he noted is appropriate for transacting ordinary business apart from decision making, and described the it as most irregular.
Coming under Order 50(1), the Majority Leader thus plead with the First Deputy Speaker who was presiding to properly pose for determination, the question on the motion moved by the minister of Finance on Wednesday November 17, 2021 in respect of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government for the year ending 31st December, 2022. “Mr. Speaker, it is clear, as I have registered that the number that was invoked, the Article that was invoked was insufficient to cover the determination of the question that was proposed for the support or rejection of the budjet.”
He thus pleaded with the Speaker to uphold the motion and set aside the impropriety.
Upholding the motion and setting aside the impropriety
The Speaker in his ruling said per the records of last Friday’s proceedings, the confirmed numbers of members of parliament at the time the question was put was less than half all the members of parliament. “Clearly the record shows that 137 members were present, that number is less than 50 percent or half of all members“.
He stated that article 104(1) Standing Order 109(1) regulates the process of decision making in the House, “the combined effect if this provision and standing orders are that the question shall not be put on any matter for decision to be made unless one-half of all Members are present in this chamber”, and stated that the Speaker presiding at the time might not have averted his minds to these constitutional and procedural requirements.
He said the putting of the question on the budget statement on Friday, November 26, 2021 was in violation of Article 104(1) of the Constitution, therefore, void and inconsequential, and declared the rejection of the budget statement as of no effect.
Members of Ghana’s delegation to the Community Parliament are yet to fly out of the Ghana to join their colleagues in Abuja as the Parliament commenced its second Ordinary Session meeting on Tuesday, November, 30, 2021.
Members of Parliament on both the Majority and Minority side of the House are needed to take a decision on Ghana’s 2022 budget.
Ghana’s delegation to the Community Parliament
The Majority side of the House on Friday, November 26, 2021 walked out of the chamber before the Speaker Rt. Hon Alban Bagbin put a question on the approval of the budget it was 137 for the disapproval and zero for the approval of the budget.
The Majority side, however, in a press conference organised same day pointed out that the Speaker Rt. Hon Alban Bagbin engaged in unconstitutionality in his ruling, whiles the Minority in their view said the ruling of the Speaker stands.
Ghanamps.com seeing all the ECOWAS delegation around inquired as to what they were still doing in Ghana, but most of them said, “we cannot leave for Abuja until the budget issue is resolved”.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament would from Wednesday, December 1, 2021 start presenting Country report and discussions per the programme format for the Second Ordinary Secession for 2021.
Frederick Opare-Ansah writes we were all witnesses to the events that unfolded last Friday the 26th day of November 2021 on the floor of Parliament with respect to the above subject matter. The Speaker of Parliament, after putting the question, had the clerks actually count the members and then proceeded to make a declaration of the results of the vote and then the consequential order that the Budget has been rejected by the House.
We need to use parliamentary procedure, practices and conventions as well as the laws of the land to be able to overturn that decision. Indeed it is doable!
The Speaker said:
“AYES” have zero (0) and the “NOES” have 137. There is no record of abstentions. So clearly the total number of MPs present and voting can easily be determined by the summation of this results. This means there were 137 MPs in the chamber at the time of voting. The provisions of clause (1) of Article 104 of the 1992 constitution which is repeated in the Standing Orders of Parliament is clear. You need at least one half of all the Members of Parliament to be able to take any decision.
It is important to draw the distinction for everyone to understand that the one third quorate number is to allow for deliberations in the house but the quorum requirement for decision taking is more than half. Currently that number is 138.
There are two avenues available to our (Majority) side to overturn that decision:
1.File a substantive motion challenging the ruling of the Speaker
2.File a motion at the Supreme Court asking the Court to issue a certiorari to quash the Speaker’s ruling as he clearly erred on the face of the record.
The second may face several legal challenges and the time available may not be adequate and so I will opt for the first as it is less litigious, preserves the dignity of the House and requires less time. With our superior number of 138 the Majority side will be able to overturn the Speaker’s decision and have another opportunity at taking a new vote in respect of the 2022 Budget.
Most importantly, leadership inside Parliament and in Government need to create back channels to properly and seriously engage the Minority caucus and their Party leadership about the concerns that has been raised about the budget even as the Parliamentary process to overturn the Speaker’s ruling gets underway.
“Mr. Speaker, it is clear, as I have registered that the number that was invoked, the Article that was invoked was insufficient to cover the determination of the question that was proposed for the support or rejection of the budget.”
