Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu
Shocking revelation is emerging about how the two main political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) fought to undo each over the passage of the Electronic transaction levy known as E-levy.
Reports indicate that two sick MPs from each of the political divide came to Parliament House purposely because of the E-levy approval.
Per revelation made by the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, on Akoko Abon on Hello 101.5FM with King Edward on Saturday April 2, 2022, monitored by DGN Online,
a member of the NDC Minority Caucus was brought to Parliament to vote against the bill with infusions on him.
The yet to be named MP was reportedly given medical attention at the office of Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak while members of the Minority pressed on to abort the passage of the bill, Kyei Mensah-Bonsu indicated.
He noted that “On the same day there was someone from the Minority side who was on drips and came from hospital. We know what happened. If they want us to go there, we will go there. There was drip on someone on that day at the hospital but eventually, the person came and was in Muntaka’s office with medics around the person. We know what happened there.”
Asked by the host about the containment of the Ahanta West MP cum Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Minister, Ebenezer Kojo-Kum in an ambulance, the Majority Leader denied that the minister was in the ambulance on that day as speculated but came in his own car.
According to him, “The Minister came there in his car. The ambulance was there because of the people who were sick so that in case of any eventuality they can be rushed to the hospital. It is Parliament ambulance brought from it original parking place to another place and getting ready for any eventuality.”
According to MP for Suame, both sides of the political devide agreed to put an ambulance on standby in case of emergency so the person could be conveyed to the hospital but the ambulance did not convey anyone to and from the House.
He mentioned that they had more than enough MPs to form quorum before the speaker put in the question because some of the Minority members were still in the chamber.
Touching on the court case, he indicated that the burden of proof is on the applicant going to court as the speaker had already confirmed the existence of the Minority members.
Already, the MP for Cape Coast South, Kweku George Ricketts-Hagan has expressed his disagreement with his colleagues in the Minority side for staging a walkout when the e-levy bill was approved.
He said in his personal view the National Democratic Congress MPs should have stayed in Parliament to vote against the e-levy when it was being considered on Tuesday March 29.
However, he said, the leadership of his side thought it otherwise due to information they had from the Majority, but he was not privy to to it, hence, the decision to walkout.
“My personal view is that we should have stayed and voted but leadership got information we didn’t have and that information showed that the best option was to walk out and use the Supreme Court ruling,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday April 2 with host Dzifa Bampoh.
He added “We deployed all strategies and at the eleventh hour, the strategy was to walkout before the Speaker put out the question.”
According to report the Minority opted for the walkout because eight of its members were absent on that day while one member was missing from the majority side.
For his part, former MP for Suhum Fredrick Opare Ansah said the Majority Leader asking the Speaker to put the question while the NDC MPs were still on their way out of the Chamber was not because he feared that there would be no quorum for the approval of the policy.
“It is because when the question is put, the rule is whether you heard the question or not you can vote. The rule is that you need not to have heard the questions,” he said.
The minority walkout out just before the approval of the policy and subsequently sued the Attorney General over the development.
The Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu described the approval as illegal and unconstitutional because in their view, the Majority did not have the right numbers to pass it.
“This is a charade,” he said at a press conference in Parliament, adding that “there is no E-levy.”
“The majority of less than 137 conducting businesses only proceeded on illegal and unconstitutional business. Parliament did not have the numbers to take any decision that should be binding Parliament and Ghanaians,” he added.
By Vincent Kubi