The last meeting of the Sixth Parliament of the Fourth Republic which will take a compulsory break by the end of this month for the general elections and reconvene on January 6, 2017 for its final dissolution started yesterday with the laying of three loans for some selected projects by the government.
The loans are $24.4 million credit facility between the government and the EXIM Bank of India to finance sugarcane and irrigation development in the Komenda area of the Central region.
A €13 million to finance the construction of three regional and 22 district offices of the Ghana Audit Service, and €1.5 million for the IT Training Institute of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and accompanying measures.
Even before business of the House could start, some members raised serious concerns about their salaries and allowances, which are yet to be determined by a special committee of parliament owing to the limited time left for the current parliament to be dissolved.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, said if the leadership of the House does not ensure that the special committee tasked to determine their salaries and allowances does its work quickly, morale of Members of Parliament (MP) would be affected which could undermine the work that they are supposed to do during the meeting.
The MP for Sekondi, Papa Owusu-Ankomah also said that the committee must also consider the salaries and allowances of the president, vice president and the ministers in time for parliament to have enough time to discuss them.
In his remarks to welcome the MPs back from recess, the speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho pleaded with the MPs to attach importance to the business during the short period that they would be sitting, stressing that most of the business for the meeting is crucial.
It will need the determination and commitment of members to deal with them before they go on break for the general elections, he stated.
The Majority leader, Alban Bagbin, said out of the bills that would be considered within the short period, the Right To Information (RTI) Bill was the most crucial.
He therefore appealed to all members to be regular and punctual to enable the House pass that bill before it rises for the elections.
Some activists and supporters of the Right To Information (RTI) Bill, who were holding placards, took over the precincts of parliament to ensure the passage of the RTI Bill before the dissolution of the sixth parliament.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr