Prof Mike Oquaye
The Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye, upon invocation of a Half-Hour motion in the Standing Orders of Parliament moved by the minority leader before the close of business yesterday, has directed the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to appear before Parliament in week’s time to provide full details of the issuance of the $2.25 billion domestic bond.
The speaker’s directive was premised on a Half-Hour motion moved by the minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu yesterday, who wanted the Minister to appear before the House in accordance with the Public Financial Act and article 181 of the Constitution, which require that Parliament be briefed on loan agreement of such magnitude.
This is the first time that a Half-Hour motion has been moved by a Member of Parliament in the history of the Fourth Republic and the speaker in response said he allowed for such a historic motion to be moved to send a clear signal that Parliament would play its oversight role with distinction and also to help deepen democratic credentials of the country.
The minority leader, who moved the motion, said that Parliament would need to have details of full complement of documentations involved in the issuance of the bond, the names of all the participants in the transaction, utilisation of the proceeds and the currency in which the bond was issued.
He therefore requested that the Finance Minister be invited to Parliament to provide all such information to the august House for its perusal.
The Speaker therefore directed that the Finance Minister appear before the House by Thursday, May 8 to provide detailed information to all the requests made by the minority leader.
Even though there was silence on the majority side, the Majority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said the speaker’s ruling would go a long way to enrich Ghana’s democracy.
He said that when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was in opposition, its members in parliament attempted to use the Half-Hour motion on several occasions but they were not successful.
He said as the majority and a party which believes in the rule of law, accountability and better governance, it would not put any inhibition in the way of the minority in seeking for those information that would help strengthen the rule of law and boost transparency and accountability.
“This move will definitely enhance parliamentary democracy in the country and also afford the Minister the opportunity to clear all the doubts in people’s mind,” he said, stressing that as Parliament and the people’s representatives their prime duty is to ensure accountability and value for money.
“We therefore give our total support to ensure that all the details in this transaction are made known to Ghanaians,” the majority leader said.
The ranking member of Finance and minority’s spokesperson on Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson later at a press briefing after the motion had been moved said the NPP government in issuing the $2.25 billion bond had hoodwinked Ghanaians, stressing that the issuance of the bond would cost the nation a whopping GH¢330 million every year and over the 15-year maturity period of the bond the nation would have accumulated financial loss of GH¢5 billion.
The ranking member indicated that the minority would do everything possible to ensure that there is always value for money in any government transaction.
He said the minority would be vindicated after all the details of the bond transaction are brought to Parliament and it would be clear that the whole deal was ‘cooked’ to benefit cronies of the Finance Minister.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr