News:
March 21, 2019
Second Deputy Speaker Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin has indicated to Members of Parliament that, the House is ready to pass the Right to Information Bill (RTI) but two Ministries are holding the House up.
Right to Information Bill we give notice to the relevant Ministries, we can no longer wait on them, we would be compelled to pass the Bill without waiting for them whatever they are doing, he indicated.
Mr. Bagbin while presiding on Wednesday said, “you cannot get any perfect law in any party of the world, what we have done is one of the best in the world so far so there is nothing wrong with us passing the bill in its current state”.
“If there need be, there is nothing wrong to come back and make those necessary amendments to the Bill, they should come before the House either this week or next week”.
Civil society should be informed that, it is evolutionary and not revolutionary and so some of the proposal could be legislated upon, but could be held up when it comes to issue of implementation we should take all that on board, he said before adjourning the House on Wednesday.
According to the former Majority Leader the public is blaming Parliament for not passing the Bill, the system we have to the chief whip is supposed to whip members and not the Majority Leader.
The Leader might have to impress on the chief whip to whip the committee members, Majority chief whip has powers over all members not only those from his side, and would do so through the Minority Chief whip.
Mr. Alban Bagbin urged MPs to cooperate, help address all bills that are urgent and added that the House cannot complete everything, but those that are of urgent nature should be completed before the 5th of April, 2019 so that the House can go on recess.
“There are other compelling matters which would definitely take members out of the House, whether the House is sitting or not, there are issues that some members must of necessity get involve, particularly the leaders I have been there before and I was compelled when I was in their shoes”.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com