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The Minority leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has called on the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to immediately present a Bill to parliament to remove the said taxes he mentioned yesterday during his delivery off the books since he is still the chairman of the economic management team.

He explained that, the Vice President was in Parliament when the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta was presenting the Bill on E-levy, so he can’t say today that, he has no hands in it; therefore he would take it off when he becomes the President.

The leader further said, the General Secretary of the NPP and the minister for information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah sits in the cabinet meetings and all these people told Ghanaians that, the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia played an instrumental role in preparing the E-levy Bill.

The Minority leader, who made the call today at a press conference in Parliament, believes Dr. Bawimia’s promise to take off the VAT on domestic electricity consumption and also scrap the E-Levy should not be postponed until 2025, and that the Vice President is in a good place now to ensure the removal of these taxes as he supervised their formulation.

Ghanamps.com

Ghana’s legislature will reconvene today Tuesday February 6, 2024 after the Christmas break to commence proceedings for the last year (session) of the 8th Parliament.

The Speaker of Parliament Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin in a statement recalling the lawmakers said the commencement of the Fourth Session of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic shall commence at Ten o’clock in the forenoon of Tuesday, 6th February, 2024.”

The statememt said the Speaker of Parliament, by Clause (1) of Article 112 of the 1992 Constitution, appointed Parliament House, Accra, to be the place of meeting.

“Know Ye All Men that in the exercise of the powers conferred on the Speaker by Clause (1) of Article 112 of the Constitution, I, Rt Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, by this Constitutional Instrument, appoint Parliament House Accra to be the place….,” it said

The House adjourned sine die, on Thursday, December 22, 2023, to enables the lawamkers take a break for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

As the House officially resumes plenary today, the dynamics with regards to attendance to business in the chamber are expected to change significantly.

This is particular because of the number casualties recorded in the January 27, 2024 primaries of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), where a total of 28 sitting legislators lost their bid to regain the party’s ticket for the 2024 general elections.

The development if not managed properly by the party hierachy, may affect attendance to the chamber thereby negatively impacting government bussiness.

Sitting MPs who lost in the parliamentary primaries and have become bitter may have nothing to lose if they fail to be responsive to happenings in the chamber.

A number of outstanding Bills including the Affirmative Action Bill,2023, Social Protection Bill, 2023, Environmental Protection Agency amendment Bill among others are expected to receive much attention during the Meeting.

Some new Bills are also expected to be introduced to the lawmaking chamber.

These include the presidential transition amendment bill, the Advertising council bill, Consumer Protection bill, Ghana Roads Authority Bill, 2023 among others.

The Member of Parliament for Akyem Oda Constituency, Alexander Akwasi Acquah, on Monday, February 5, 2024 donated office equipment to five public agencies that operate in his constituency.

The agencies namely the Ghana National Fire Service, National Disaster Management.

Organization (NADMO), National Ambulance Service, Ghana Education Service and National Health Insurance Authority had appealed to the MP to help them retool to enhance their operations.

The Member of Parliament stated that this donation is part of his commitment to empower these agencies and other entities within the constituency to deliver quality service to his constituents.

He emphasized the importance of a more condusive working environment and therefore urged the recipient agencies to develop and maintain a proper maintenance culture.

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Members of Parliament on the Committee on Environment, Science and Technology on Thursday, February 1, 2024, as part of their oversight responsibilities met with scraps dealers in Koforidua to assess how they are going about collection of E-waste and metal scraps.

Chairman of the Committee Dr. Emmanuel Marfo addressing the Eastern Regional scraps dealers noted that when Ghanaians build because of heat they get in air-conditioners but questioned how they dispose of them upon damage.
Again, as a Committee they do not want to seat in Accra and be briefed on what is happening on the field, so they have to come and see things for themselves.

He used the opportunity to thank Ecopartners for the training and education they are giving to the scrap dealers on the harmful nature of electronic waste as they contain some harmful elements when not properly disposed of can have dire consequences on the environment. He further pointed out that E-waste is not a waste per say because if processed, it generates more money.

He thus, encouraged the scrape dealers to come together to form a strong association so that they can be supported.
Dr. Marfo added that when a collection centre is built, the scrap dealers need to feed the centre with materials, thus they need to work assiduously.

A technical officer of Ecopartners Eric Kobena Arthur indicated to the Committee that they have a good working relationship with the scraps dealers; they have trained them and impacted knowledge on how to handle E-waste, adding that they now have a fair knowledge that per their activities if they do not handle the wastes well, it can pose danger to the environment.

The scraps dealers were happy that members of the Committee had called on them since the scraps activities is what they use in looking after their family its good they have been given training on the harmful nature of the E-waste when not handled properly.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation team leader on E-waste, Dr. Vincent Nartey Kyere has disclosed that the E-waste centre built in Accra would be replicated in the other regions.

According to him they are looking for five more E-waste collection centres in Accra to add up to the existing one to close up the proximity gap; adding that when E-waste is collected from Madina one should not move all the way to Agbogbloshie.

He made this known in an interview on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, when lawmakers on the Committee of Environment Science and Technology as part of their oversight responsibilities toured E-waste collection centres at Agbogbloshie and Atomic Energy.

On the issue of challenges, Dr. Vincent Nartey pointed out that price fluctuation is a matter of concern as the scraps dealers involve in the trade know the trade very well and know what is charged on the international market, hence want same price to affect them and added that the one collection centre in Accra is not enough.

Additionally, there is the need for education as people do not understand the issues of these hazardous materials; so to bring people’s attention to it, we need some kind of serious investment in the sector.

According to him, the project is more on collection of E-waste materials, recycling and disposing of electrical, as well as electronic materials.

“We then look at the final treatment, final recycling and disposal of the items. We started the collection from Agbogbloshie Green Land Facility where we collected the items, waste materials at an incentive amount”. This, he said is contrary to how it was previously handled where people were burning these things or doing some crude application to it.

“And we said at what price will people bring these items so that they do not take it through the crude method? So we started with this incentive. So far when we started we have paid five point six million Ghana cedis to collect almost five million tons of materials.

He stated that there is this small formal sector that has the investment and technology to do proper recycling. However, because they are not able to compete with the informal sector market they do not get the materials. “So the materials collected are given to the formal people assuring them that there are materials. We have done the first fifty tones of materials; once the materials are not useful, we find a way of disposing it”, he added.

After the Agbogbloshie tour the Committee moved to Atomic Energy where a new E-waste facility of about thousand five square meter area has been built which has containers that would expand the collection of E-wastes.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Abla Dzifa Gomashie, the Member of Parliament for Ketu South, last week donated medical supplies to the Anuenu Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compound.

The donation included essential medical supplies, detergent, blanket, face masks, and mattresses to help improve the healthcare services provided by the facility. This donation forms part of the Member of Parliament’s commitment to support healthcare facilities and improve the health status of the communities within her constituency.

The Anuenu CHPS Compound, was one of the health facilities that saw a facelift from the Member of Parliament. The donation was received by the Municipal Health Director, Mr. David Agbokpe and the Medical Superintendent of the Municipal Hospital, Dr. Makafui Dzakpasu.

They expressed their profound gratitude to the lawmaker.

The Municipal Health Director noted that the supplies and mattresses will go a long way to improve the quality of healthcare they offer to the people in the community. The MP, in her address, reiterated her commitment to help improve the health sector in her constituency. She urged the healthcare workers to utilize the donated items to the benefit of the community members.

She thanked the Kpano family for donating the land for the meaningful and important facility such as a clinic. She charged the Health Directorate and the Municipal Assembly to expedite action on the documentation of the land donated by the Kpanu family for the chips compound to enable more development.

In attendance were the Chief of Awarkome, Togbe T. Wornanu and his Queen Maama Lilivor and some Constituency executives.

Ghanamps.com

Chairman of the Committee on Environment, Science and Technology, Dr. Emmanuel Marfo has expressed worry over the springing up of residential facilities around an E-waste collection centre around the Atomic Energy Commission.

Dr. Marfo who made the observation when he led members on the committee to inspect the centre on Wednesday, 31 January 2024 noted that the houses around the facility should be prepared to deal with whatever consequences there is as they would take steps to let the local Assemblies know that there is a development there, hence if there is any intervention that can take place to make sure that the springing up stops because of the harmful effect it should be resolved and the Assembly should deal with it.

In an interview, he pointed out that one challenge is the land tenure when the Committee visited Agbogbloshie which was their first point of visit and the next point was Atomic Energy where they identified land encroachment as a serious challenge, hence the need to let the land encroachers know the purpose of the facility.

He further pointed out that the Committee has oversight responsibility over the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and its agencies and there has always been report on the building of a holding centre.

So as part of their work the committee decided to come to the field and look at what is being done; how E-waste is being handled from the collection to the facility point, as it has always been reported that it is being built for the purpose of handling E-waste so that industry and private people who are investing into recycle facilities would be assured of the location they can get the materials to feed their industry and where we can contain hazardous materials.

He affirmed that e-waste is one of the fastest growing solid wastes concerns globally and how to effectively manage it giving that our population is increasing as construction of these electronic gadgets keeps going on including computers, air-conditioners, refrigerators, mobile phones among others.

“How are we going to handle the waste going forward? Hence the reason that committee decided to monitor the progress we have made as a country”, he pointed out.

On their impression after the tour, he noted that, so far so good as far as the pilot project is concerned it looks like the project handlers know what they are doing. “They can forecast and know how the future would look like and they are proposing a number of things that we think would help”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Member of Parliament for Akim Oda, Alexander Akwasi Acquah is confident the New Patriotic Party would reclaim most of its lost seats in the 2024 general elections.

The party suffered some shocking outcomes in the 2020 parliamentary elections losing a number of seats to the rival political party the National Democratic Congress (NDC) resulting in a hung 8th parliament with 137 seats from both sides with one independent MP who was originally from the NPP.

But the Akim Oda MP believes the party is well-placed this time round to recapture all those lost seats to give the party an absolute majority in the next parliament.

On the issue of a high number of the experienced lawmakers from the ruling government not returning to the house either because they have decided not to contest again or contested but the bid to represent the party, he noted that the near hung parliament also created the opportunity for some of them who are first timer lawmakers to serve in some of the Committees in his case as vice chairman of the Committee on Trade and Industry. Thus, he has been exposed to the rudiments of parliamentary practice.

He explained that there is still time for the supposed first-timers currently in parliament to tap into the experience of the old ones and be ready for the task ahead.

Mr. Akwasi Acquah said personally he has made it a task from now until the end of the lifespan of the current parliament to tap into the experience of the more experiences lawmakers and ensure that he fits into their shoes.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Akim Oda in the Eastern Region, Akwasi Acquah has appealed to all persons harbouring the intention of staging a coup d’etat to overthrow a constitutionally elected government in Ghana into making our politics better.

Speaking on Angel Morning Show (AMS), the Law Maker said the political discourse in this country will be better if all persons who think the government is under-performing will partake in politics so as to challenge politicians.

This, he said, could even help politicians to be more responsible and deliver on the promises they make during elections as they will now know that there are several competent hands waiting to take over from them.

“I encourage all persons who think of coups as the alternative to overthrowing a constitutionally elected government to channel their energies into making the political discourse better…in fact, they must  channel their energies into political discourse,” he said.

To him, coups are never solutions to changing a democratically elected governments in a stable country like Ghana as the stability of the country is more important than the interest of any other person.

The Accra High Court sentenced to death by hanging six coup plotters who were convicted for conspiracy to commit high treason and committing high treason.

Three others including Assistant Commissioner of Police, Benjamin Agordzo, Colonel Gameli, and another junior military officer, Corporal Seidu Abubakar, have been acquitted.

The six persons including three soldiers are; Donya Kafui, aka Ezor (a blacksmith) and Bright Alan Debrah Ofosu (a fleet manager), were found guilty of conspiracy to commit treason and treason, while Johannes Zikpi (a civilian employee of the Ghana Armed Forces) was found guilty of conspiracy to commit high treason.

The three soldiers – Warrant Officer II Esther Saan Dekuwine, Lance Corporal Ali Solomon, and Corporal Sylvester Akanpewon, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit high treason.

The work of staff of the Ghana Immigration Service in the Effutu Municipality received a major boost with a donation of office equipment by the Member of Parliament for the Effutu Constituency, Alexander Afenyo- Markin.

 The items included ten (10) desktop computers, two (2) printers, two (2) land line telephones, 23 swivel chairs, two work stations, a photocopier machine, an office cabinet for filing and two air conditioners.

 The donation which was a follow-up to a request made on the Member of Parliament who doubles as the Deputy Majority Leader of Ghana’s 8th Parliament is set to enhance the work delivery of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) in the Effutu Municipality to improve the security of the area.

 Presenting the items, Hon. Afenyo-Markin announced that the new office complex under construction was at an advanced stage of completion and would be commissioned and handed over before the celebration of the Aboakyir’ Festival in May this year.

 He reiterated his commitment at ensuring that staff posted to the Municipality work under a conducive environment to enhance their delivery for the development of the area.

 Hon. Afenyo- Markin bemoaned the alarming rate of Hepatitis B infections in the area describing it as a silent killer, a situation he said has compelled him to vote Ghc1million for free screening and vaccination in the Municipality.

He charged on all residents of Effutu to volunteer for the free screening and vaccination for early treatment to reduce the Hepatitis B related deaths in the area.

 Receiving the items, the Central Regional Commander of the Ghana Immigration Service, Deputy Commissioner of Immigration, Eric Afari expressed the gratitude of his outfit to the Effutu MP for helping to resource the GIS in the area.

According to him the gesture would go a long way to improve the work of the service in the area thereby ensuring efficiency in the monitoring of activities of foreign nationals in the Municipality for an enhanced security.

Present at the ceremony to present the items included the immediate Past Secretary of the ECOWAS Parliament, Mr. John Azumah, the Effutu Municipal Chief Executive, Hon. Alhaji Zubairu Kassim, the Effutu Divisional Police Commander, ACP Jeffery Darko and Former Commander of the Winneba Local Prisons, Mr.Peter Afari Mintah.

Irene Danso/Ghanamps.com