Prof Mike Oquaye and Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka
Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye, based on Standing Order 38 (1) and Article 112 Clause 3 of the 1992 Constitution, has recalled Members of Parliament (MPs) after receiving an urgent motion filed by the minority National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The house went on recess on Friday, December 22, 2017 following the closure of the first session of the 7th Parliament, with the second session expected to resume on January 23, 2018.
The special emergency sitting is meant to investigate the alleged collection of various sums of money from expatriate businessmen by the Ministry of Trade and Industry during the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards held at the Movenpick Hotel in Accra on December 8, 2017. .
The motion was filed by the minority chief whip and NDC MP for Asawase, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, on Wednesday, December 27, 2017 and seconded by the MP for North Tongu and ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
The urgent motion requests “that this Honourable House investigates the levy and collection by the Ministry of Trade and Industry of a Ghana cedi equivalent of various sums of money in United States of America dollars from expatriate businesses in Ghana and related matters during the recently held Ghana Expatriate Business Awards in Accra.”
According to the MPs, the emergency request for parliament to reconvene follows government’s clearance of the trade ministry from any wrongdoing after the same minority chief whip had accused a deputy minister of trade and industry and the ministry of conniving to charge fees up to the tune of $100,000 to have access to the Presidential High Table during the awards ceremony.
The minority members raised the issue on the floor of parliament on Tuesday, December 19, 2017, which later resulted in an open confrontation between the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah, and Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, after the latter had accused the former of signing an official letter for such ‘demand.’
After the allegation, President Akufo-Addo ordered investigation into the matter and later, the Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, on behalf of the president, came out to say information available to him (president) on the $100,000 reserved-seat scandal did not support the claim of wrongdoing.
Mr Carlos Ahenkorah had admitted that some monies were taken from expatriates but claimed that those monies were later transferred into the account of the awards organizers – Millennium Excellence Foundation – and was not meant for use by the ministry.
But the minority chief whip, Alhaji Mubarak Muntaka who was not satisfied with the explanation, described government’s explanation as unacceptable and “complete cover-up.”
By Thomas Fosu Jnr