A ferocious rainstorm completely ripped off the entire roof of Parliament yesterday around 7.30 pm at the time when the House was considering an urgent Local Governance Amendment Bill, 2017, with some MPs and journalists in the chamber running helter- skelter to seek refuge in safer places.
Even though rainwater dripped freely through the air conditioners and other cleavages in the ceiling, Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, urged members to remain in the chamber to conclude the passage of the bill, which would give the president the authority to revoke the appointments of government appointees in the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
The rains crashed through the building like a big airplane that caused fear and panic among MPs in the chamber as well as workers in the building.
This is the second time in a year that the roof of the chamber block has been ripped off. The first one occurred during the raining season last year.
As at the time of filing this report, parts of the building, including the chamber, had been flooded.
Parliament might be forced to go on temporary break to ensure that the roof is replaced and the chamber tidied up to enable sitting to take place.
While the minority members left the chamber completely, the Majority members stayed behind in the soaked chamber to pass the new Governance Amendment Bill, 2017.
In laying the bill, the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama, said the objective of the bill is to restore the president’s discretional power to revoke the appointment of government appointees to the District Assemblies as provided under Article 249 of the 1992 Constitution.
She said it was imperative for such powers to be given to the president to ensure that new government appointees are appointed to help in the effective running of the district assemblies.
The Local Government Committee, chaired by Patricia Appiagyei, MP for Asokwa, said Article 242 of the constitution states that “other members not being more than thirty percent of all the members of the Assembly, appointed by the President in consultation with the traditional authorities and other interest groups in the district, as well as Article 249 which states that “words in an enactment which authorizes the appointment in whom the power is a vested power, at the discretion of the authority, to remove or suspend that person.”
As at press time, NADMO officials, led by National Coordinator, Brigadier-General Francis Vib-Sanziri, were in parliament to assess the extent of damage.
According to him, the storm was so great that it caused extensive damage to properties across the city, while roads in the city had also been blocked by falling trees.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr