News:
August 30, 2016
Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee has dismissed suggestions that summoning the House from recess amounts to a waste of the country’s scarce financial resources.
Last week, the Speaker of Parliament Edward Doe Adjaho recalled members to a one week sitting beginning 1st September.
There are indications this was instigated by a petition from the Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the Speaker over bribery allegations against President John Mahama who was given a $100,000 Ford vehicle by a Burkinabe contractor.
The contractor is said to have benefited from some lucrative contracts from government.
Critics have raised issues with the recall and the financial burden it places on the national coffers.
But Speaking to Citi News, the Vice Chairperson of the Committee, George Loh said even though the expenditure on such emergency summons may be high, it is important for Ghana’s democratic process.
Well it’s true that it may be a waste of the taxpayers’ money but the bottom line is that the motion has been filed and the procedure says that the Speaker must summon Parliament. It’s all part of our democracy.”
“So in one vane one could argue that it is a waste of public money, yes, because public money will be spent on the whole recall but I am saying that our constitution allows it. We drafted the constitution for ourselves, we have opted for democracy and it doesn’t come cheap,” he added.
We’ll resist probe into Mahama’s ford gift
Deputy Majority Leader, Alfred Agbesi had said his side will resist any attempt by the NPP to raise the issue on the floor of Parliament.
“I will say without any reservation at all that if that issue should be raised in Parliament, we on our side we shall resist with all the forces at our disposal,” he stated.