Category: General

Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Rt. Hon Sidie Mohamed Tunis has said Ghana’s Speaker, Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin is in support of the election of lawmakers by direct universal adult suffrage.

“I told the Speaker about our vision of direct election taking effect as soon as possible and I am pleased to say the Speaker himself was very supportive”, he said in an interview.

  According to him when he called on the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, they spoke on a wide range of issues but more importantly was the issue of the relationship between the Ghanaian and ECOWAS Parliament.

Speaker Tunis was accompanied by Secretary-General John Azumah and Leader of the Liberian delegation to the Community Parliament, Edwin Melvin Snowe Junior on Monday, June 14, 2021, when he paid a courtesy call on Ghana’s Speaker.

Mr. Tunis further noted that they came to inform the Ghanaian Speaker about the upcoming delocalised meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament toward the end of July 2021 and an Extraordinary meeting in September 2021.

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Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament’s Standing Committee on, Political Affairs, Peace, Security, and African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), Edwin Melvin Snowe Junior has said the crisis in Mali should not be left alone for the Commission to deal with, Parliament should get involved.

According to him, this would help Parliament to properly understand what is happening in Mali and the best way to accommodate the situation with regard to the coup.

“I would be the last person, to want to sit in ECOWAS Parliament with someone who was hand-picked by a military junta to come and represent the good people of Mali. I am fundamentally opposed to that. Parliament would have to get more proactive in the resolution of the crisis to enable them to have informed decisions to move forward”.

In an interview as to how best to deal with insurgencies in the West African sub-region, Senator Snowe noted that it is the reason why the Authority of Heads of States and Government are involved, and they meet either two or three times in a year.

Again, there is the need to continue the conversation and maintain with the sanctions being put on Mali which would serve as a deterrent for other member states who would want to follow the bad example of Mali by organising a coup.

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Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin has said the time is ripe for Ghana and the Switzerland to transition their diplomatic ties to a level that would guarantee exchange of expertise in Statecraft and governance.

According to him, as a budding democracy, there was a lot for Ghana to learn from the Swiss to help deepen the country’s diplomatic credentials and deliver the needed development to the people.

He further noted that, the effort, was an important feat that will add up to the country’s already attained feat in advancing democracy in Africa.

The Speaker made this call when the Swiss Ambassador to Ghana Philip Stalder paid a courtesy call on him in Parliament.

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Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afiriyie Akoto has revealed government has procured Six Hundred Million Ghana Cedis to improve the cocoa sector in the country.

He explained that, this money is meant to pay One Thousand Ghana Cedis per hectare to cocoa farmers affected by diseases and overaged cocoa trees in order to cut affected cocoa trees down and replace them with a high breed cocoa seedling, that would be ready for harvesting maximum in three years.

The minister made this known when he appeared before Parliament to answer some questions filed by members of Parliament seeking to know plans made by government as form of compensation for farmers whose cocoa farms are affected by diseases and are been cut down.

According to him Ghana’s cocoa production capacity is one point eight million hectares, and forty per cent of that is affected by swollen shoot disease and some are over aged between forty and fifty years old and their yields are non-economic.

And government has gone to the African Development Bank in cooperation with other European Banks for the facility to help cocoa process in Ghana and also to build warehouses in other to accommodate addition stocks.

At a press briefing after answering questions on the floor of the House he told journalists that regions affected by the disease including Western, Eastern and Volta Region would have the cocoa tress cut and replaced with new improved seedlings from the Cocoa Research Institute that are high yielding.

He further noted that farmers would be compensated with a thousand Ghana cedis on every acre of farm land that would be cut out and in the Western Region where most of the farmers do not own the land, the land owners are compensated to ensure that there is no disruption in the arrangement.

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The Speaker of Parliament, RT. Hon. Alban Sumani Bagbin on June 12, 2021 led Parliament to plant over 100 tree seedlings in some selected areas in the capital

The exercise is in line with the observation of the “Green Ghana Project” which targets the planting of 5 million trees across the country.

Addressing the Parliamentary staff and the media at the forecourt of parliament before the tree planting exercise, the Speaker said the Green Ghana project is an initiative of President, Nana Akufo Addo, adding that by this initiative, they are making investments into the future, and commended the National Investment Bank for their partnership with Parliament in achieving this feat.

He described the project as a special opportunity for all of us to recover over time our loss in this area caused by our own destructive practices, indicating that not only have we degraded the natural environment God gave us, but also depleted our forest reserves.

He said, the whole globe is now faced with desertification, drought, irregular rain pattern, and all its attendant challenges including food insecurity, and it is time to confront these challenges.

He called for policies that are socially just, economically viable, and ecologically sustainable, and indicated that the programme seeks to workout a formula for economic trees including timber, Wawa, mango, rosewood, cashew, and shea trees for planting.

The Speaker also noted that by committing to this exercise, “we are not going to plant the trees and walk away, indeed we are encouraged to nurse, nurture, and monitor them in a manner to ensure the progress of these trees.”

The Speaker was joined by deputy Speakers, Clark to Parliament, and Deputy Clarks in the tree planting exercise.

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Deputy Energy Minister Designate, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam has identified lack of skills among Ghanaians as the factor militating against the employment of more Ghanaians into the oil and gas sector.

According to him, Ghana lost the opportunity to have more of its citizens to gain employment in the sector when the country developed the Jubilee fields and to some extent the Sankorfa fields Adding that even though the local content regulation requires the companies to recruit Ghanaians, there is a limitation. One needs to be qualified and have the requisite skills to get the opportunity, but at the time those fields were developed many Ghanaians did not have the skills.

He however noted that even though the numbers are not there as we would have wished, there has been some steady progress in the number of Ghanaians employed in the sector.

From 3139 Ghanaians employed in the sector in 2018, the number increased to 5000 in 2019 and to 5900in 2020.”we have seen some improvements, it would have been more if our people had more skills”

Responding to what he thinks is the weakness in the Local Content Regulations that the country is currently practicing and what can be done to modify it to give Ghanaian players in the oil and gas sector the right to grow their business, he said Government has done well in training more people in the sector through the Accelerated Oil and Gas Capacity Programme and assured that when given the opportunity, he would assist the Minister “to scale up the training in terms of mobilising resources to support the training of as many Ghanaians as we can to be able to work in the industry.

He noted however that in terms of value of services provided by Ghanaian Companies, the country did not do well Stating that out of about 13billion dollars spent between 2015 to date, unfortunately, only 2billion dollars worth of services were provided by indigenous companies, and called for an increase in that regard.

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The Rt. Hon Speaker Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, has cautioned the security services to desist from arresting or prosecuting any Member of Parliament without his notice, as MPs by the laws of Ghana, cannot be arrested while on their way to or from Parliament.

According to the Speaker, he is aware some MPs are being prosecuted without his notice and would, therefore, intervene to seek the protection of the legislators as stipulated by law. he made this remarks on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.

 “As I sit here, I gathered information that some members were arrested, were prosecuted and are before court without any notice to the Speaker. This cannot continue, even when a member is alleged to have committed an offence and is been investigated, the Speaker must be given notice because one of the rights that we have are termed ‘immunities and those immunities are absolute”.

“For example, in parliament, during the course of the plenary, whatever you say here is absolutely protected by law and you are immune from any process outside parliament”.

“That is why the Speaker’s certificate and intervention are necessary because the Speaker will need to know why the member is being investigated or arrested”, he said.

“And when it’s one of the absolute immunities, the intervention of the Speaker will stop albeit or prevent a member from being prosecuted.”

“But I’m aware some of our members are before court now without notice to the Speaker and I’m taking action to make sure that these things come to my notice and we will take action to make sure that members are protected to perform their constitutional duties,” he stated.

Speake Bagbin added: “We need members of parliament for good reasons. There are critical decisions that need to be taken. In some days where we need not less than two-thirds of members’ approval before they can pass through”.

“And, so, if we allow law enforcement bodies to pick members at will and detain them and interrogate them outside plenary sessions, it will affect the business of the house, the business of government and the progress of our nation and so even though members of parliament are not above the law, we passed the law and we must show leadership in the enforcement and application of the law, but we are, at the same time, given special rights that protect us because we are not here as individuals, we are here carrying the mandate of millions of Ghanaians”.

He noted that it is reason why the leadership position like the president is given those special rights, and these must be respected by all. “I don’t want in future to hear or receive anything that is complete disobedience to this statement that I’ve made.”

“I’ll take serious view of it and the house will apply its full force to make sure that our democracy works in accordance to our rules of law.”

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Deputy Minister-designate for Transport, Alhassan Tampuli Sulemana has said carnages on Ghana’s roads is regrettable and Government has begun a dualization exercise on some major roads in the country from Accra to Takoradi, Takoradi to Tarkwa, Accra to Kumasi as well as Tamale to Paga roads.

According to him this would help reduce roads accidents and mortality as a number of people sustaining injuries at varying degrees.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Finance Minister-designate, John Ampontuah Kumah who also appeared before the Appointment Committee indicated that his experience as a communicator and a lawyer would enable him to bridge the gap that exists between the Finance Ministry and the general public to resolve the communication challenge.

The Ejisu Member of Parliament obtained a BA degree in Economics with Philosophy from the University of Ghana (Legon) and holds a double Master’s-Applied Business Research-from the Swiss Business School, an Executive Masters in Business Administration (Finance) from GIMPA and a Doctorate degree in Business Administration.

As a member of the Appointment Committee of Parliament, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the National Entrepreneurship Training and Innovation Programme during the first administration of President Akufo-Addo.

The nominee said what he will bring on board is to obviously help energise the already hard-working team led by the Minister Ken Ofori Atta at the Finance Ministry and assist in communicating the many achievements of the Finance Ministry to the public

According to him the country’s high debt stock can be attributed to the toll the Covid-19 pandemic had on the country’s economy and though admitting that debt figures have shot up, the nominee said the Ministry is going to consolidate the different reports on the country’s debt by Government and the International Monetary Fund.

He indicated that his goal for the next four years would be to execute the vision of President Akufo-Addo to see Ghana Beyond Aid and bemoaned the country’s huge import bills in spite of huge and arable land lying fallow to be tilled for agricultural purposes and declared to highlight the financial benefits of agriculture to bring the youth into the agricultural enterprise.

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Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin has said individuals who offer their services to the development of Ghana should be supported with periodic training programmes and advanced studies to build their capacities.

Addressing a delegation from Gamey & Gamey, The University of Professional Studies (UPSA), Ghana, and the University of Virgin Islands in the USA, he said “human resource development is important, we must keep in mind that the people who offer themselves to serve must be supported to build their individual capacities in order to better serve society”.

The delegation called on the Speaker to introduce to him the Certified Public Manager (CPM) program which is offered by the institutions.

The Speaker urged the delegation to develop tailored models and programmes that can be useful to the work of Parliament.

Ghanamps.com

President Nana Akufo-Addo has fulfilled requirement of Article 76 (1) by nominating 19 Ministers to form his cabinet for his second term.

The Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin announced this on the floor of the House in a communication received from the President.

They are as follow:

1. Ken Ofori-Atta – Minister of Finance:
2. Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen – Trade and Industry;
3. Dominic Nitiwul – Defence;
4. Ambrose Dery – Interior;
5. Shirley Ayorkor Botchey – Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration;
6. Godfred Yeboah Dame – Attorney-General and Justice;
7. Owusu Afriyie Akoto – Food and Agriculture;
8. Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh – Energy;
9. Yaw Osei Adutwum – Education;
10. Kwaku Agyeman Manu – Health;
11. Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu – Parliamentary Affairs;
12. Daniel Kwaku Botwe – Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development.

The others are

13. Samuel Abdulai Jinapor – Lands and Natural Resources;
14. Cecilia Abena Dapaah – Sanitation and Water Resources;
15. John Peter Amewu – Railways Development;
16. Ignatius Baffour Awuah – Employment and Labour Relations;
17. Mavis Hawa Koomson – Fisheries and Aquaculture;
18. Ibrahim Awal Mohammed – Tourism Arts and Culture;
19. Francis Asenso-Boakye – Works and Housing.

The speaker also stated that the president also met all requirements as specified in the constitution having nominated 12 out of the 19 cabinet Ministers from Parliament.

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