The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has threatened to publish the names of Members of Parliament (MPs) who have tested positive to the COVID-19 and are still coming to the Chamber.
“Stay home and self-isolate. Go through the protocols and recover before you return to the House,” Mr. Bagbin said in a statement delivered on his behalf by the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Wusu.
“Please, let’s take this protocol seriously and let all members, who have been informed of their (positive) test results, withdraw from the precinct of Parliament, and not just the Chamber,” he noted.
“Mr. Speaker wishes me to inform you that if those members do not withdraw and isolate he will be forced to publish the names of members who have tested positive in order to warn the rest of us,” the First Deputy Speaker warned.
Last week Friday, Speaker Bagbin, disclosed that some MPs had tested positive to COVID-19, and added that all the people working in the Chamber were no longer safe, thereby urging noncompliant MPs to undergo tests for COVID-19 by this week, Tuesday.
“This is the last call I want to make on members because the team from the Noguchi Institute will be available on Monday and Tuesday. They are attending basically to the staff (both parliamentary and support staff),” the Speaker had said.
He added, “You should take advantage of the three days and get tested not just for your good but for the good of all members of your family, friends and your colleagues here in the House.”
“Please that should be the last call I will make. If I see that members are not complying, I will be compelled to read out the names of those who have not yet undergone the process of testing,” he warned.
Speaker Bagbin noted that his directive that all MPs should subject themselves to the test had not yet been complied with by over 60 MPs, stressing that “it is true, as the Majority has just stated, that we are not all safe. In the House some members are afflicted by COVID-19. ”
Yesterday the First Deputy Speaker said some 52 MPs remained recalcitrant and had not subjected themselves for testing, despite the warning by the Speaker.
Speaker Bagbin last week said, “We may not know who the person is because of the protocols and issues of confidentiality. We are not (supposed) to disclose those who are now COVID-19 positive but we have some of us in that category. And so members should take the protocols seriously.”
“In fact when I was entering, I myself had to signal some members to respect the physical distancing protocol and I saw them immediately move apart. So members should take it seriously,” he intimated.
According to him, the numbers started slowly and it was rising, and therefore did not want to be compelled this week to read out the names of those who had not complied with the directive.
The Speaker thanked members for drawing his attention to the state of affairs at the washrooms and offices, including the Chamber block, where the lawmakers complained of lack of water and other accessories, which they said were making it difficult for them to comply with the safety protocols of COVID-19.
“I think the Parliamentary Service will take a serious view of it and make them available,” he Bagbin said.
On the issue of orientation and induction programme for the MPs, the Speaker indicated that they would take place in two phases because of the COVID-19.
“Finally, I have directed that the first, which is starting on the February 5 and ending on February 8 after lunch, will be for the ‘freshers’ (123) together with leadership. The senior members will have theirs next weekend,” he asserted.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House