Prof Mike Oquaye
Parliament yesterday reconvened for the third meeting of the second session of the Seventh Parliament, with the Speaker, Prof Mike Oquaye, urging members to attach utmost importance to business of the House because the 2019 Budget Statement will be presented by the Minister of Finance for approval.
High on the agenda for this meeting are the presentation of the 2019 Financial Statement and Budget of the government on November 15 and the consideration of the Right To Information (RTI) Bill, 2018.
In his welcoming address, Speaker of Parliament called on the MPs from both sides of the House to be punctual and scrutinize the sectorial estimates of the budget after the presentation of the budget for approval.
He said the RTI Bill also needs a lot of attention on the floor and so the MPs must also fully participate in its consideration and passage since it has been on the table for so long.
Yesterday after the opening session, various papers were laid and referred to the relevant committees for consideration and report to the plenary.
The report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana (Technical Universities and Polytechnic) for the period ending December 31, report of the Auditor-General on the statement of Foreign Exchange Receipts and Payments of the Bank of Ghana for the period ending December 31, report of the Auditor-General on Pre-University Educational Institutions for the financial year December 31, 2017, report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana and other statutory institution for the year ending December 31, 2017 were referred to the Public Accounts Committee.
A financial request for the utilization of a portion of GETFund revenues for the debt service of a medium-term loan facility of the cedi equivalent of $1.5 billion to be used for educational infrastructure was also referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report.
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, on his part, assured that Members of Parliament would work hard to ensure that the RTI Bill is passed before the budget statement is presented to the House to promote accountability and good governance.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr