Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu
The Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs of Parliament has recommended to the house that wider consultations be carried out and more public input sought on the Office of Special Prosecutor Bill, 2017 before its passage.
According to the committee, that would make the bill stand the test of time and transcend different political regimes under the Fourth Republic.
The recommendation was made after the bill, had been laid in parliament on Tuesday, July 17, by Deputy Attorney General Joseph Dindiok Kpemka on behalf of the Attorney General under a certificate of urgency. It was subsequently referred to the committee by the speaker to determine the urgency of it; which meant that only one day would be spent to go through all the processes of its consideration and then passed.
But the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliament Affairs after sitting on the bill to determine its urgency, thought that more time would be needed to allow for broader consultations before its passage.
“The committee acknowledges that the Attorney General’s Office is over-burdened in the discharge of its duties and therefore the need to carve out some of its investigative and prosecutorial duties to the proposed Office of the Special Prosecutor. The committee however, does not see any vacuum created by the absence of the Office of the Special Prosecutor to warrant the Bill to be treated as urgent,” the committee stated.
Presenting its report to the house on Friday for adoption, the chairman of the committee, who is the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Offinso South, Ben Abdallah Banda, said it (committee) took into critical consideration the sensitive nature of the bill and the interest that it had generated in the public domain and the fact that the creation of the office ought to be acceptable to people across all the political divide and not necessarily operate along any political line.
Parliament consequently accepted the recommendations of the committee and adopted its report.
The majority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, praised the committee for its candid opinion and the fact that the recommendations would help deepen the country’s democracy.
He said it should not be misunderstood that the minority’s initial opposition to the introduction of the bill under a certificate of urgency influenced the committee’s decision, adding that majority of the members serving on the committee are NPP MPs and that the decision was taken in the best interest of the country.
The committee members are Ben Abdallah Banda (MP for Offinso South), chairman; Alexander Abban (Gomoa West), vice chairman; Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi (Asante-Akim Central); Ambrose Dery (Nanton); Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh (Sunyani East); Yaw Buaben Asamoa (Adentan); Joseph Cudjoe (Effia); Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah (Ofoase/Ayirebi); Dr Emmanuel Marfo (Oforikrom); Francis Manu-Adabor (Ahafo Ano South East) and Tina Mensah (Weija/Gbawe) – all NPP MPs.
The rest are NDC MPs, and they include, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini (Tamale Central), ranking member; Dr Dominic Ayine (Bolgatanga East), deputy ranking member; Alban Bagbin (Nadowli/Kaleo); Â Rockson-Nelson Defeamekpor (South Dayi); Magnus Kofi Amoatey (Yilo Krobo); Shaibu Mahama (Daboya/Mankarigu) and Joycelyn Tetteh (North Dayi).
By Thomas Fosu Jnr