Dr. Tiah Mahama
The Minority in Parliament has accused the government of wasting about 75 percent of the five-day period for which Parliament was recalled from recess, claiming that little progress has been made on the key businesses that necessitated the recall.
The Minority Members of Parliament (MPs), led by the Walewale MP, Dr. Kabiru Tiah Mahama, made the allegation at a press briefing in Parliament following the abrupt adjournment of the House.
According to them, Parliament was recalled to consider three main items of business: the Depositors Protection Amendment Bill, the appointment of nominees for ministerial positions and nominees to the Supreme Court.
They said although the Minority had other matters it wanted Parliament to consider, including a motion to investigate losses allegedly occasioned by the operations of GoldBod, it agreed to the Speaker’s decision to limit the recall to the urgent matters for which the House had been summoned.
However, with Wednesday marking the third of the five days allocated for the recall, Dr. Tiah Mahama said the government had failed to make adequate progress on the outstanding business.
“Effectively, we have wasted about 75% of the time that we’re supposed to use and consider the urgent matters,” he said.
The Minority MPs also raised concerns about the Depositors Protection Amendment Bill, saying it had not yet been laid before Parliament or referred to the appropriate committee for consideration.
Dr. Tiah Mahama argued that bills were normally subjected to stakeholder consultations before they are presented to Parliament and subsequently referred to a committee for detailed consideration before it is presented to the plenary.
“How are they expecting us to use two days for the bill to be referred to the committee, and the committee will look at it and make proposal to the House for consideration? That is not tenable,” he said.
Dr. Tiah Mahama accused the government of attempting to rush its business through Parliament in a single day, describing the alleged approach as an abuse of the governing party’s parliamentary majority.
He said the development was imposing unnecessary costs on taxpayers and other stakeholders, including journalists who had to report to Parliament without sufficient parliamentary business to cover.
Mr Tiah Mahama also questioned the absence of a strong government presence to explain the reason for the latest adjournment, saying the Minority had been present in Parliament in numbers despite not being responsible for prosecuting government business.
“If there is no direction in this government, if there is no leadership in this government, they should better hand over to Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to lead us, so that we can get government business ongoing,” he added.
Majority Responds
The Majority, however, rejected the Minority’s characterisation of the recall, insisting that Parliament had achieved its primary objective and that the remaining business would be completed within the scheduled period.
The Deputy Majority Whip, Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe-Ghansah, explained that the recall was primarily intended to facilitate the vetting and approval of the ministerial nominees.
She said the nominees were expected to be vetted yesterday, with their reports subsequently presented to the House for approval.
According to her, the fact that other bills were attached to the recall did not mean those bills had to be concluded before the principal objective of the recall was achieved.
Madam Cudjoe-Ghansah explained that the approval of the ministers was important to the preparation of the 2027 national budget, which the Finance Minister is expected to present in November.
She further explained that the handover of ministries to the ministers-designate could only take place after Parliament had completed the approval process.
“The handing over – we approve the ministers before they can hand over to them, and the Minister of Finance is seriously waiting for them,” she said.
The Deputy Whip therefore maintained that there was no cause for concern over the pace of parliamentary business, insisting that the government was on course to achieve the purpose for which Parliament was recalled.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House