Today promises to be full of fireworks in parliament as MPs are poised to debate the ‘Cash for Seat’ report laid in the house on Friday.
There was another report making the rounds over the weekend purported to have been compiled by the two minority members on the five-member special ad hoc parliamentary committee tasked to investigate allegations of money extortion from expatriate businessmen before access was given to them to sit with President Akufo-Addo during the Ghana Expatriate Awards night held in Accra on December 4, 2018.
The five-member committee, chaired by the majority chief whip and New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Sunyani East, Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, is made up of the chairman of the Finance Committee and MP for New Juaben, Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah and MP for Adentan and member of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, Yaw Buaben Asamoa. They constitute the majority members with the deputy minority leader and former chairman of the Finance Committee who is the MP for Ketu North, James Klutse Avedzi and deputy ranking member of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and former deputy Attorney General, who is MP for Bolgatanga East, Dr Dominic Ayine, making up the minority members on the committee.
The content of the report, laid in parliament on Friday, February 2, has been kept strictly out of public view for the debate to commence today.
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE yesterday on the hullabaloo over the committee’s report, the chairman of the committee, Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, said as far as he was concerned, the committee’s report was before parliament subject to debate, and could therefore not be in the public domain.
He said he did not know of any report in the public domain coming from the committee.
According Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh, a lot of radio stations and media outlets had called him on the supposed report in the public domain and he had refused to comment on the matter because if he did, it would be a breach of confidence reposed in him as the chairman of the committee, by the speaker of parliament.
“If Ghanaians want to know about the content of the report, it is before parliament and would be debated today so Ghanaians can follow the debate and know the real content,” he said, adding that parliament has rules that guide their work.
Meanwhile, there are indications that the minority in parliament may boycott the debate.
The contention of the minority members is that the views of the minority members on the committee were not captured in the report.
They also claim that they do not know the content of the report but some minority members speaking to DAILY GUIDE on condition of anonymity yesterday, said they would not miss the chance of making contributions to the debate.
In another development, parliament is readying itself for the president’s ‘State of the Nation’ address to be delivered on Thursday, February 8, with the re-painting of the place.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr