Alexander Afenyo-Markin
The government intends to present a bill in Parliament to support the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has disclosed.
According to him, the move is to make it mandatory for all successive governments to implement the Free SHS policy and make it a justiciable right for the citizens.
Speaking at the parliamentary leaders’ media briefing yesterday, Mr. Afenyo-Markin said, “I’m able to also report that the Minister of Education will present the Free SHS Bill to Parliament.
“You know that Chapter Five of the Constitution provides some aspirational indicators. Those are not justiciable but once by policy of government an aspiration as envisaged by the Constitution is put into action, then backed with a legislation, it becomes justiciable,” he explained.
He added, “So I think that this Free SHS Bill, if we consider as a House, what that means is it becomes mandatory for the government to implement this, unless it is repealed. No government would have the right to say I am not going to enforce Free SHS because now there’s a law.”
Aside the Free SHS Bill, the Majority Leader also indicated that the Third Meeting of Parliament would consider some priority bills, including the Presidential Transition Bill, Consumer Protection Bill, Housing Authority Bill, Architects Registration Bill, and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (Amendment) Bill.
According to him, Parliament has no option than to consider the Presidential Transitional Bill because of an election this year, noting that “it’s a constitutional imperative.”
On the Economic and Organised Crime Office Bill, Mr. Afenyo-Markin stated that the amendment would seek to address some of the concerns raised by practitioners in the area.
The Environmental Protection Agency Bill is also higher on the table as well as the Vaccine Development and Manufacturing Bill, he noted.
The Majority Leader reiterated that the Minister of Finance would address Parliament on a review of this year’s budget before the end of July.
He advised the media to be circumspect in their reportage regarding this year’s electioneering campaign, saying, “I know between now and December, the heat will be on.”
“But the country will depend on you, the media. You will have to ensure that no unnecessary sensationalisation of issues is brought to the front burner,” Mr. Afenyo-Markin said.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House