News:
March 18, 2018
Member of Parliament for Ho West, Emmanuel Kwesi Bedzrah, has called on the Speaker to intervene for Members of Parliament to obtain their certificate to enable them engage in private business whiles serving as legislators.
According to the Ho West legislator the House will be going on recess on Friday but MPs have not received their certificate after submitting documents to the Committee on holding profit.
He referred to order 173 “there shall be a committee of members holding profit which shall consist of the Second Deputy Speaker and Chairman and not more than 25 of its members”.
“Mr. Speaker I do not know if we are to continue doing “our business illegally”, we have not received any instruction from your office as well as that of the committee either, as to whether we should stop or continue.”
MP for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga on his part noted that, apart from those who appear before the committee and have not received their certificate, “some of us who have applied have not even been invited to be heard, so that we can be processed for which reason we live on, the “paltry some that your office has been paying us”.
“Mr. Speaker if I go to court as a lawyer it has to be pro bono, I have not been cleared to practice, for a year now I am unable to practice commercially”, he lamented.
Leader of Government Business, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu noted that the order raised by the Ho West MP related to Ministers too, they should seek the approval of the House before they engage in other business as often times their attention is not drawn to this.
Ministers who are not MPs will have to respect this constitutional obligation and the impression should not be created as though it is related only to MP Ministers, he said.
By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com