News:
June 11, 2020
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has said some Speakers since 1993 were uncomfortable and allergic to statements that would embarrass government of the day, hence they prone statements that come before them.
According to him since the inception of the fourth Republic, some Speakers have played tricks with their authority to singularly admit questions by delaying those questions where eventually lose their potency.
“They also prevent the sequential follow of questions to hard-press Ministers and a day with a lot of questions, an hour is allowed for question time to save face of government, the current speaker Profess Oquaye has been open in admitting questions. Except that some Ministers do not respond to questions timorously in Parliament we should have improvement on this”.
Mr. Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu was speaking at a forum organised by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs with the core leadership of the various Committees in Parliament, on the theme “Parliament and the Sustenance of Ghana’s Democracy 2020 and beyond”.
“Do Speakers have authority to grant motions per our standing orders, this is something that MPs must interrogate, and we must come to some determination in this direction?”
The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, lamented over a growing practice where lawmakers make statements that are not well researched and are saturated with half truths, untruths and others opinions expressed from social media.
He acknowledged the role of the Seventh Parliament as the nation fight against COVID-19 adding that for the first time in the history of the fourth Republic in the Seventh Parliament, the first meeting of the fourth session was suspended, “instead of rising sine die”.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com