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Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo-Prampram Samuel George Nartey called on Ghanaians in Constituencies which are occupied the by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs to call their lawmaker to move into the chamber to conduct business of the House on Friday, November 26, 2021.

The Ningo-Prampram lawmaker held a press conference at 12:09pm when his colleagues on the Majority side of the House did not have a single MP on the floor for the budget debate to be concluded

“We the Minority we are full in our numbers in the chamber, the Speaker is ready to commence business of the House, notice getting to him from clerks at the table indicates that no member of the NPP  is present, we need to know what is going on. Are   they no longer interested in passing the budget, they are no longer interested in imposing the hardship they want to impose on Ghanaians, they should come and let us take the budget; this is serious business”.

 He lamented that two hours pass the  starting time the Minority  they still waiting for planes that would arrive with MPs from outside the country,  are they  supposed to site till all of them arrive in the chamber,  we have serious business and governing a country belong to serious minds.

And if they are not in a position to run this country, they should say so and let serious minds take over running of the state, parliament cannot be held hostage by the Majority, every Minority member is in his chair, they need to do this before the House rises on December 17, 2021.

Again, you the media you have been here for three to four hours, Majority has no concern for you,  Leader of government business  has not care for you,  use your medium to tell Ghanaians to call on their MPs to come into the chamber so that we can work, he added.

On the issue of consultation, he noted that   there is no consultation that is greater than the floor of the House; “they should come to the floor, the people of Ghana demand accountability from parliament many of them walk in and walk out of the chamber.

“There is only one demand that the minority is prepared to consider, a complete withdrawal of the draconian taxes, no other consideration are going to be considered by us”, he emphasised.

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Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh has served notice to the Minority side that their side would pack the House with its members as it would position itself to respond to the Minority Leaders notice of invoking Article 104 of the 1992 Constitution.

According to him they find it interesting the comment by the Speaker on they not having the numbers on the floor at 7:00pm on Thursday, November 25, 2021 when the House was still in session.

“We are ready to meet you tomorrow”, (Friday November 26, 2021), he stated. He, however, pointed out that he understands the difficulties his side is in and takes the advice of the Speaker.

The Speaker reminded the Majority Whip that his side would always not have the numbers to take decisions; that is why I say you have to learn lessons. “I continue to call you Majority group because you have an Independent who wants to do business with you, let us get to the point where we develop this country together”.

Article 104 (1) states that “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.

(2) The Speaker shall have neither an original nor casting vote.

(3) Where the votes on any motion are equal it shall be taken to be lost.

(5) Where Parliament is considering a bill to amend the Constitution, amend the constitution or where the voting is in relation to the election or removal of any person wader this Constitution or under any other law, voting shall be in secret.

(5) A member who is a party to or a partner in a firm which is a party to a contract with the Government shall declare his interest and not vote on any question relating to the contract.”

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Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu has served notice that he intend to invoke Article 104 of the 1992 Republic Constitution of Ghana as the House concludes debate on the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the President Nana Akufo-Addo lead government.

According to him this would give clear indication to Ghanaians on where they as the Minority stand with regards to the budget.

The Minority has so far not minced words in showcasing their disapproval of the 2022 budget, as indicated at a post budget workshop at Ho, and during debate on the floor of the House.

Rt. Hon Speaker Bagbin indicated that he hopes lessons would be learnt by the Majority side, following the virtually empty seats that characterized the majority side of the house as at 7:00pm on the floor of the House on Thursday.

“I am just drawing your attention to lessons, I decided to call you the Majority group because the Independent MP has agreed to do business with you, but there is not Majority party in this parliament now”, the Speaker stated.

And told the House he would want it to go by the concept of the founders of Ghana to see how the House can work together to develop mother Ghana, but “you are so stick to your partisanship that it is difficult. As we move along, I would do my best to hold the balance to make sure we get there”.

Article 104 (1) states; “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.

(2) The Speaker shall have neither an original nor casting vote.

(3) Where the votes on any motion are equal it shall be taken to be lost.

(5) Where Parliament is considering a bill to amend the Constitution, amend the constitution or where the voting is in relation to the election or removal of any person wader this Constitution or under any other law, voting shall be in secret.

(5) A member who is a party to or a partner in a firm which is a party to a contract with the Government shall declare his interest and not vote on any question relating to the contract.”

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The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Adoagyiri-Nsawam in the Eastern Region, Frank Annor Dompreh, has alleged that his colleagues on the Minority side in Parliament want their welfare issues addressed before approving the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government.

He was speaking on the floor of the House on Wednesday on concerns raised by the Member for Banda, Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim as to why the Finance Minister or any of his deputies were not in Parliament.

Mr. Annor Dompreh said the Minister was not there because the Minority Leadership is pursuing him for their welfare issues and the ministers are working on it.

According to him, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Caucus in Parliament has hatched a plan to disapprove the government’s 2022 budget because they have outstanding issues on their welfare.

“And they want to use the absence of the Minister or his deputies as an excuse to make a case and halt the debate on the 2022 Budget Statement.”

Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim on his feet said, “Mr. Speaker, the 2022 Budget Statement was presented to us by the Finance Minister, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, and as the debate is going on, we want him to be here to be taking notes of concerns that will be raised by members who are representing their respective Constituencies.”

“If the Minister who presented the budget to us is not here, then we should also not debate on something he brought to us from the government, because we were not with him at the Cabinet meeting to know what their plans are.”

But First Deputy Speaker, Mr. Joseph Osei Owusu, who is also the Member of Parliament for Bekwai in the Ashanti region, directed the Minority side to continue with the debate since there is no Order in the Standing Orders that states until the Minister or any of his deputies are in the Chamber, the debate cannot go on.

Moreover, there were senior personnel from the Ministry who could take notes and report to the Minister.

The Speaker’s ruling did not settle the matter but rather angered the Minority Caucus who called on the Speaker to ask the Majority Chief Whip, Mr. Annor Dompreh to withdraw his comments and apologize to them.

 The Nsawam-Adoagyiri Lawmaker, however, insisted that there are welfare issues that the Minority want settled before they commenced with budget debate on Wednesday.

“Mr. Speaker what I said was that there have been outstanding welfare issues that we have been fighting for, and that is a statement of fact. And I challenge my colleagues in leadership; they should tell this House if we have not been pursuing welfare concerns for members. That is a statement of fact, and I will find it very difficult to withdraw that,” he insisted.

“There are outstanding issues that I have been going after together with the leadership, that is what it is, and I cannot withdraw this. I don’t know why you should find this offensive. Hon. Avedzi, what is the offence in saying there are outstanding issues the Ministers are working on hence their absence in Parliament.”

The Majority Chief Whip had earlier said the Minority has been holding meetings to discuss ways to influence Ghanaians to stand against the 2022 budget, and some of these secret meetings were attended by former President John Mahama to strategize ways to downplay the budget.

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The Chairman of the Education Committee of Parliament,  Kwabena Amankwah Asiamah, on Thursday, November 25, 2021, put up a spirited debate, hailing the quality of the managerial skills of President Akufo-Addo, during the peak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

He said managing the pandemic brought out the best in President Akufo-Addo and put him above any President as the world witnessed how great the Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces is in terms of crisis management.

For instance, Hon. Asiamah said the way and manner the President handled the novel coronavirus when it spread across some Senior High Schools in the country was beyond imagination, stressing that his good leadership skills helped brought the situation under control and allayed the fears of parents and students as well.

“The way and manner he [President Akufo-Addo] handled COVID-19 in our schools, especially, the Senior High Schools when they were having their WASSCE final exams were beyond imagination. During the time, the President fed all the students, both public and private with one hot meal a day for several weeks. That is the mark of a good leader who never discriminates”, he noted.

Mr. Asiamah was contributing to the motion for the approval of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the government on the floor of Parliament.

Commenting further, he said what made President Akufo-Addo stood out as a great leader during the pandemic was his insistence of supplying all the senior high schools with infrared thermometers, reusable nose masks and some other logistics and ensured that all the schools were also fumigated and disinfected.

These items, he noted, contributed a lot in halting the spread of the virus which brought fear and panic among the populace.

“Many thought the COVID will breakout in our schools. The doom sayers were there when it happened to Accra Girls School when some few students had COVID in those days. People cried for closure of schools but the President ensured that the right measures were put in place to save lives”, he underscored.

In September 2020, the Lancet Commission for COVID-19 on the roll call for countries that have made strides in the fight against novel Coronavirus and saved their citizenry from the devastating effects of the pandemic, hailed Ghana under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo, for being quite exceptional in managing the pandemic.

Ghana’s name was written in gold among nations that have used their meager financial resources and under-resourced health systems compared to giant nations such as the United States of America, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Canada, Germany and South Africa among others, to achieve excellence in preventing the further spread of COVID-19.

Ghana’s performance and political leadership as well as that of other nations in the fight against the pandemic came under the microscopic eye of the United Nations after it set up a team of health experts to form the Lancet COVID-19 Commission which was launched on July 9, 2020, to among other things, assist governments, Civil Society Organizations, and UN institutions to respond effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Commission aims to offer practical solutions to the four main global challenges posed by the pandemic: suppressing the pandemic by means of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions; overcoming humanitarian emergencies, including poverty, hunger, and mental distress caused by the pandemic; restructuring public and private finances in the wake of the pandemic; and rebuilding the world economy in an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable way that is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement.

The Commission chaired by Prof. Jeffrey Sachs in a statement on the occasion of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly published online on September 14, 2020, placed Ghana among the highly recognized countries that did great in the fight against COVID-19 despite challenges in its health system as well as funding.

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The Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei  Adutwum, has told Parliament that the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the government present an opportunity to turn around the economic fortunes of Ghana, urging all and sundry to support and approve it for implementation.

“The 2022 Budget”, he noted “is a sign of good things to come”.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of Parliamentary sitting on Thursday, November 25, 2022, moments after contributing to the motion for the approval of the budget statement, Dr. Adutwum made a strong case to back his call for support of the economic policy of the government for the year ending December 31, 2022.

For instance, he said the 2022 Budget is going to make massive investments in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, stressing that once they are achieved, it will help transform the country’s educational sector”.

“We are talking about 35 STEM high schools. It is just like building 35 PRESEC schools across the country. When we talk about a transformed Junior High School – schools that have the feel and look and the content of a high school so that we can reverse the damage that was done to our education system from the 1987 reforms that we took which reduced high school education from seven to three years because the three years that was supposed to make it six, the Junior High School was never implemented as such”, he noted.

He added “When you walk across the length and breadth of the nation into a Junior High School where there are no libraries, no science labs, no computer labs and we still tell the good people of Ghana this is a Junior High School. We borrowed this concept from the United States of America where Senior High School and Junior High Schools are not on the same premises. But in each of the Junior High Schools, we have the same facilities – we never did that”.

According to him, the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the government is seeking to reverse that trend and build new Junior High Schools that have all the elements of Senior High School.

“This means that with three years of lower Secondary Education, you can go to Upper Secondary Education and be equipped with six years of quality education. This budget has allocated potential funds for it”, he explained.

He said all these clearly outlines the vision of President Akufo-Addo, which he described second to none, believing that the number of initiatives outlines in the budget when achieved, will put President in the National Education Hall of Fame.

“The name Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will be written in gold in the National Education Hall of Fame – the day that we will build it and so will Ken Ofori Atta, the Minister of Finance because this budget is laying the foundation for the Ghanaian economy to be competitive”

Dr. Adutwum added that, when we talk about STEM Universities so that all those regions without universities will also claim a university.

 “I heard some of my colleagues saying we will not vote for the budget, my response is that maybe you haven’t read the budget to your constituents and if you have, they will tell you to stay in Accra until it is approved because our hopes and future is in this budget. The budget is going to take Ghana to a new level where we could compete with the rest of the world. This is the budget for the 21st Century”, he stressed.

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Mr. Mintah Akandoh, Ranking Member on the Health Committee of parliament wants government to scale up its approach to vaccinating Ghanaians against the deadly coronavirus.

He criticized government for the slow pace of the vaccination process accusing it for waiting for donor supports in order to carry out such an important exercise aimed at protecting the citizenry.

He said government’s actual target is to vaccinate about twenty million people (20, 000,000) Ghanaians out of the thirty million (30, 000 000) population with a specific target of vaccination about 17,000,000 people from April to the end of October, 2021.

He noted that “It is not for nothing that government set for itself that target, because if you are vaccinating to achieve the health immunity, you must do it within a particular space of time; and as things are going it is unfortunate we are not achieving the head-immunity”.

Sadly enough, “by the benevolence of some donors we now have vaccines available….”, and stated that he even picked up information that some of the vaccines are getting expired, and wondered if government was waiting for all the vaccines to get expired and be discarded? “The cheapest thing to do at this point in time for me is for government to expertise action on the deployment and vaccination process.

Mr. Akandoh also chided government and for that matter the health ministry for the low level of education of the masses on the vaccination; indicating that people’s doubts about the vaccines at the initial stages would have to be cleared going forward to enable them avail themselves for the exercise.

According to him, the government in the 2022 budget statement has indicated that the country has received in excess of some 8.4 million doses of the vaccines, saying “it is important for us to know how many doses of the vaccines we have received as donations, it is very important, and we need to know how many dosses of vaccines we have bought as a country with Sputnik V in mind, and the processes leading to the purchase of these vaccines”, he emphasized.

He believes government is only hiding behind COVID-19 and spending huge sums of money. “We have spent in excess of 15 billion Ghana Cedis on COVID-19 as at now, we don’t know where these monies have gone to.” Adding that as at now, some frontline health workers have not been paid their allowances; some contracted the virus in their line of duty, they have not gotten their insurance package. Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, he noted is still facing irregular supply of oxygen.

These and many more developments call for a probe into the entire expenditure of COVID-19 because the core issues of COVID are not been tackled.

He said some of the expenditure patterns as reported do not make sense, stating that “even when COVID was severe, in the 2021 budget, it was reported that we had spent about three hundred and forty-three million on hands sanitizers, nose masks and things like that. In 2021 when COVID is not that severe, they are reporting to us that they have spent about five hundred and ninety-seven million on hand sanitizers, and nose masks.” To him, even if Ghana were supplying the whole world with these things, we wouldn’t have spent that money.

He assured that the Minority has served notice to insist on the details on the expenditure of COVID.

He was worried that the budget was silent on any support to the laboratories like the Nuguchi, and other diseases centres that are supposed to be carrying out research works on the disease, while mass testing has also stopped.

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Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman Manu has told Parliament Krachi East communities currently have not been captured in their 2021 plans and budgeted for any construction of CHPS compounds.

The Ministry would liaise with the Ghana Health Service for an assessment based on the request and evaluate them for consideration and budgeting in the ensuing years’ budgets, “our  ability to implement this will largely depend on the quantum of budgetary allocation to the Ministry in subsequent years”.

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Minority’s Ranking Member on Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said the advice by the Chairman of the Committee Bryan Acheampong for the National Security Minister not to come to the House to respond to the travel expenses of the president is an affront to the House and undermines the authority of the Rt. Hon Speaker.

According to him, it is totally unconscionable and unpardonable to have a presidential jet in good condition but the president is renting expensive charted aircraft.

He quoted Order 66 (1) to back his point, which states that; “Mr. Speaker shall be the sole judge of the admissibility of a question”. So no member of parliament or other person than the Speaker of Parliament admits a question and the question in issue relates to the president’s travels to Belgium, France and South Africa.

He asserts that it does not lie in the mouth of the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee to advice the Minister,  who only last week was expected to respond to that question as programmed in the order paper, but he had to send a letter to parliament that he has had to travel and would be looking at another  time to come and respond. “At no point in time did the sector minister say the information on the president’s travel has been classified as being a top secret.

He noted that at a time that this government has submitted a budget and is asking the people of this country who are under hardship and suffering, the government is demanding taxes from an already burdened Ghanaian people.

“Would you believe it that at this time, same government is demanding more taxes, this same government is refusing to be accountable to the people, how can you be demanding more taxes from the Ghanaian  people and refusing to account to the people” he queried.

According to Mr. Ablakwa, the Minority does not see any national security consideration in this matter; the Speaker did not see any issue of national security which should prevent the minster from responding to the question, and in every democracy the cost of travel of the president is known to the people, he added.

“You just google the cost of travel of USA presidents and you would see the cost per hour, it is about two hundred and six thousand dollars, and that of the royal family of the United Kingdom, you would see it rated at about five thousand pound an hour. The German Chancellor and French president, it is known by the citizens of those countries and even us who do not live in those jurisdictions and tax payers there”.

And further revealed that the Minority would not support the 2022 budget because of lack of accountability, transparency which has even been captured in the Auditor General’s report.

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Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor in his contribution to the 2022 budget on Wednesday, November 24, 2021 told Parliament Ghana is recovering from the global pandemic that has affected the world’s economies.

According to him on Monday, November 22, 2021 the Bank of Ghana in its update on composite economic activity indicates that the annual growth rate in September this year was 11.2 percent compared to the 10.8 percent in 2020 whiles in 2019 it was 4.2 percent.

An indication of sustainable recovery from the global pandemic and a clear indication that measures being taken by the President Nana Akufo-Addo’s administration is leading to recovery of the national economy.

“I call on the House to support this budget, the youth as well; it is a budget that would pull the country out of its economic difficulty, there has been a lot of debate in this House aimed at scoring political point”, he said.

To back his point, he said in 2014 GDP growth was 2.9 percent, 2015 – 2.1 percent and in 2016 – 3.4 percent which is the best of the previous John Mahama led administration. “Mr. Speaker, today in spite of all the difficulties our national economy has undergone, in spite of the disruption in the global supply chain, the fact that even developed economies are struggling today in 2021 GDP growth as at today still stands at 3.5 percent”.

He added that in 2014 to 2016 there was no pandemic, the then government of John Mahama scored 3.4 percent GDP growth in 2016 and his colleagues in the NDC have not contested the figures, “it is uncontestable, without the pandemic they took us into unemployment situation, we had a nation graduate unemployment association without pandemic; our friends from the other side moved us into dumsor.”

In addition, he pointed out to the House that he is not an economist and financial expert on deficit, but the Bank of Ghana has given Ghanaians figures to appreciate, stating that “with all the expenditure Akufo-Addo and his government embarked on, free electricity, water, food, SHS, allowance for frontline health workers; in spite of all of them the deficit stood at 11.7 percent of GDP, that is a fact that of NDC’s 2012 – 12.2 percent of GDP 2013 – 11.7 of GDP 2014 -11.9 GDP   2015 and 2016, and it is captured in their own budget and I do not know why they are worried about it. Before COVID-19 hit the first quarter of 2020, the GDP growth of our country was 7 percent”.

The Akufo-Addo government is telling the youth of this country, to just start with “whatever ideas you have, if you build an IT business, agriculture and government is going to give the youth of this country a poll of resources so you can build your own enterprise; this is a budget that would respond to unemployment in our country”, he stated.

Furthermore one point two million Ghanaians in school today and TVT is going to be free and with Free SHS government is going to absorb whatever cost there is and is in appendix 4A of page 246 of the budget statement.

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