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Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin has cautioned politicians, especially the National Democratic Congress, (NDC) members of parliament not to politicize the judiciary on their judgments whether it favours or goes against them.

He said there can’t be any hand from the executive to manipulate the work of the judiciary and whatever being the outcome must be respected rather than chastising the judiciary whenever a ruling goes against politicians.

Mr Afenyo-Markin made these comments when he was responding to comments made by the MP for Tamale South, Mr Haruna Iddrisu accusing the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame on how he wrongfully handled the Ambulance trial case against the Minority leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.

The leader finally expressed joy that the Minority leader through the appeals court decision has been acquitted and discharged in the ambulance trial.

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Chairman of the Finance Committee Yaw Patrick Boamah as part of letting members of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) know workings of the Committee has revealed that one hundred and seventy-four (174) Senior High Schools (SHS) would benefit from two hundred and forty (240) laboratories to be built across the country.

According to him the finance committee is seeking additional funding for phase two which is a project government is building on.

Last week Friday, July 26, 2024, the finance Committee laid a report and sort Parliamentary approval for these facilities.

“It’s important we are trying to introduce a lot of ICT infrastructure in our senior high schools”, he said at a press conference on Monday, July 29, 2024, before the House started proceedings.

The document presented to parliament reads, “In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Finance, there has been laid before Parliament a request by the Minister for Finance for the prior approval of Parliament the exercise by him of the power conferred under the Laws and Regulations relating to the waiver of Import Duties, Import VAT, Import NHIL, Import GETFund Levy, EXIM Levy and Special Import Levy amounting to the Ghana Cedi equivalent of One Million, Five Hundred and Seventeen Thousand, Forty Euros (€1,517,040.00) for the supply and installation of integrated e-learning laboratories in Senior High Schools (Televic Phase II)”.

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In the wake of the brouhaha over when the House should go on recess with the Minority whip Govern Kwame Agbodza pushing for the House to rise on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, the Majority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin says the Business Committee programmed Friday, August 2, 2024.

According to the Majority Leader it is not acceptable that unilaterally the Minority decides that the House goes on recess Tuesday, July 30, 2024, rather there should be consensus building around the day; the House should go on recess as this is a democracy.

“This House would not sit beyond Tuesday, is that what you are telling the people of Ghana? The speaker gave an indication; do not put words in his mouth, you are taking the liberty of opposition to far, when we were in opposition we did your government business for you, I was on the left of Mr. Speaker”, he added.

The Majority leader asserts that there is a way to solve a problem, saying “in my dealings, I do not believe in surprises and I have reservation in some aspects of views expressed by my colleagues on the other side, and Hon Kofi Buah I am not aware of any decision for rising on Tuesday, July 30, 2024; the Speaker gives indications and we in leadership guide those indications.

And I have no indication from colleagues that we should rise on a particular date of which indication I agree, and I am at this point making a turnaround.

“If I agree and turn back on it in the future it would turn against me, I will not do that. At the business committee there was no such indications from your colleagues who were there, I would have approached things differently and I have reached out to colleagues opposite me:, he pointed out.

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Minority chief whip, Governs Kwame Agbodza has lamented over a practice where the Members of Parliament on the Majority side of the House do not attend to the House in their numbers, but the Minority do and are the ones in their numbers to do government business on the floor.

On Friday, July 26, 2024, as at 10:04pm, twenty-seven (27) lawmakers from the Minority side were on the floor of the House working whiles only thirteen (13) from the Majority side of the House.

Mr. Governs Agbodza indicated to Leader of Government Business, Alexander Afenyo-Markin that the House cannot work beyond Tuesday, July 31, 2024 otherwise his side has to get all the one hundred and thirty- eight (138) members to come and take decision on every business on the floor of the House.

“I mean look at what we are doing to ourselves, count the people behind you Majority Leader; you are using us to do your business; that is not fair. You told the people of this country you are majority yet you would not even bring your people to do your own business. Why are you doing this to us? It is as if someone told you when you started this meeting you should not bring the bills”.

He said the Minority was not happy about this and added that the reason why they are still doing business as late at 10:00pm was because Tuesday, July 31,2024 they would not go beyond mid-day and rise for recess and nothing can stop that.

“Whatever you will do let them confirm it; all those lobbying around that someone would return from a trip that we can stay up to Friday we are not staying up to Friday, we are rising on Tuesday, get it right in your mind and stop threatening. You would recall us after seven days, recall and you would see the faces that would come back”, he affirmed.

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Ranking member on the Finance Committee of parliament Isaac Adongo has slammed the government over its performance with regards to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Opening comments on the 2024 budget review and economic policy presented by the Minister of Finance and Economic planning Dr. Mohamed Amin Adams on Thursday, July 25, 2024, Mr Adongo revealed that two years into the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Ghana is undertaking, the government has already missed out on six (6) performance targets.

He added that in Ghana’s previous IMF programme, performance on wage bill and international reserve was missed, and the current government run to the IMF to allow it to borrow and never concluded on the programme.

“Today, we are getting back to the same thing; government has spent four point five billion Ghana cedis on accumulation of arrears despite they said we should not do that whiles with the programme. They were supposed to have cabinet approval for Bank of Ghana Act as at now no such amendment has been presented”.

We were supposed to see change in our international reserves, we missed it in March and June of this year, we miss it and we are looking at September of this year; we were supposed to have a social spending, we have missed expenditure on that we are heading towards the same situation in 2019”.

According to him, the government has always blamed COVID-19 for the current situation we find ourselves, but the Bank of Ghana issue a statement as at the time we exited the programme in May 2019, five months later raising concerns about the fiscal environment and disclosed that we were likely to end with huge fiscal deficit.

He asserted that the Finance Minister in his presentation of the mid-year budget review for 2024 did not provide any hope to the people of Ghana, adding that there was no single message to alleviate the suffering of Ghanaians.

He said by the time the minister left the floor, dollar was almost fifteen cedis and “we were buying diesel fifteen cedis a litter and they have mismanaged the economy to register depreciation in the cedis about fifty-four percent in 2022”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Abena Osei-Asare contributing to the 2024 mid-year budget review said the Ghanaian economy is on the path of recovery, with the policy being put in place despite being under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

According to her in the first quarter of 2024 growth moved around 4.7percent, this is way higher than what we saw in 2023 same year which was around 3.1 percent.

The most exciting thing she noted is that it is industry that is driving this growth rate. Industry went up by 6.8 percent followed by agriculture by 4.1 percent and services 3.1 percent. “This should tell you that the economy is on the path of recovery and we are happy with the policy we are putting in place to ensure the economy gets back on track”.

“Mr. Speaker, we all saw inflation going up by 54.1 percent in December 2022, currently this year June inflation has fallen to 22.8 percent due to policy put in place and the Bank of Ghana monetary policy exchange rate being moderated.

We want to bring it to a level that works for all of us. Gross International Reserves is improving compared to 2023 it was around two point five months of import but as we speak its 3.1 months import at the end of June.

Trade balance and all our external balance are trending in the positive so this should tell you we are making some recovery and it is the structure reforms we have put in place to get to where we are.

We never derailed the IMF programme prior to 2022, we were on truck and completed fully prior to 2020; and again currently we just received our third tranche of three hundred and sixty million dollars bringing the total to one point five billion dollars. We are bent on living within the IMF programme, she affirmed.

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Chairman of the Finance Committee of parliament, Yaw Patrick Boamah has disclosed that the government knows the hardship in the system hence the decision not to introduce any new tax in the 2024 mid-year budget and economic policy review.

According to him there was nothing on revenue generation in the budget review and government is a listening one and would not want to burden Ghanaians.

In an interview as to whether the New Patriotic Party government is defaulting in the IMF bailout, he indicated that he would give his response on the floor of the House when the debate starts on Wednesday, July 24, 2024.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Rt Hon Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has today ordered the Marshall (head of Security in Parliament ) to drive Member of Parliament for Sefwi Wiawso who was also the immediate past Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Kwaku Afriyie out of the Chamber whilst proceedings were underway.

Speaker’s order came as a results of a challenge Dr Afriyie posed at him (Speaker) for certain comments he made after reading a communication from the President, proposing two justices for the Supreme Court.

Ghanamps.com

The newly sworn in board chair of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin says he is coming on board with four proposed agenda;

• operational efficiency,

• financial sustainability,

• employee empowerment and

• regulatory compliance.

“My diverse expertise equips me with unique perspectives and strategies that I intend to leverage to help my colleagues on the board of ECG propel this great institution into a new era of growth and innovation. We stand on the shoulders of these efforts, learning from both their successes and their challenges. Our task now is not to start anew but to continue this trajectory of thoughtful reform and innovation. Let us celebrate and build upon the work of those who have led the way, as we chart a new course forward for ECG”.

In his acceptance speech, he noted that the road ahead will be challenging, as we face ageing infrastructure, financial constraints and a rapidly evolving global energy landscape. Yet, I believe that within these challenges lie opportunities for transformative change.

“And I want to assure you that under my leadership of the ECG Board, we will deploy our best efforts to improve what we came to meet at ECG. Let us begin by embracing a spirit of innovation and efficiency. We can start by deepening the deployment of smart grid technologies in big cities like Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi.

This technology has the power to reduce outage response times, boost businesses and enhance the quality of life for our citizens. We must also prioritize customer service, by developing a more interactive and user-friendly digital platform; we can reduce complaint resolution times and improve overall customer satisfaction”.

Again, let us embrace innovative financing instruments like green bonds; this will not only support infrastructural upgrades but also    but also align with global sustainability trends, securing a greener future for Ghana.

In addition, let us approach these possibilities with a sense of purpose, urgency and responsibility. We have a short timeframe, but we have a long-term vision. We are not just building for today; we are building for tomorrow. We are not just building for ourselves; we are building for our children and our grandchildren, he added.

He commended the employees of ECG, saying “your dedication has kept this company running through difficult times, your insights will be crucial as we implement these changes. To our partners in government and the energy sector: We need your continued support and collaboration to succeed”.

He assured of setting ambitious targets, though admitting that there would be obstacles. “But as we’ve seen throughout our history, when Ghanaians unite behind a common purpose, there’s no challenge we cannot overcome”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Hon. Moses Amadu Yahaya served as the Member of Parliament for Kumbungu Constituency in the Northern Region of Ghana from 2013 to 2017, representing the Convention People’s Party (CPP). Elected in a by-election in 2013, he focused on infrastructure development, education, and healthcare in his constituency. During his tenure, he contributed to parliamentary committees and worked on projects that improved roads, schools, and healthcare facilities.

Shang Annang Papa Nii/Ghanamps.com