Memorable events in Parliament
Interesting and memorable events occurred in Parliament during the Second Meeting of the Fourth Session of the Sixth Parliament.
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In fact, the meeting ended last Friday with yet another eventful event; Parliament did not go through the process to approve the nomination of the President’s nominee for the position of Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr John Oti Bless.
His hope that his nomination would be approved at the end of the meeting was dashed.
Mr Bless, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nkwanta North, was unable to forward his written apology for the purported attack he made on Justices of the Supreme Court before the start of business.
He was nominated together with a former Director of the West Africa Peace Building Network (WANEP), Mr Emmanuel Bombande, as a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, and a former District Chief Executive of Upper Manya, Mr Joseph Agmor Tetteh, as a Deputy Minister for Eastern Region. Parliament has approved the nomination of the two.
Deaths
Grief struck Parliament when Mr Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu, the MP for the Abuakwa North Constituency, was allegedly stabbed in his Shiashie residence in Accra on February 9, 2016.
He was subsequently laid to rest at Akyem Old Tafo in the East Akyem Municipality in the Eastern Region last Saturday.
The MP for Abetifi, Mr Peter Wiafe Pepera, also passed away on May 21, 2016, at the 37 Military Hospital, less than 24 hours after he left Parliament.
The two MPs have since been replaced in by-elections.
Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2016
Another significant event was Parliament’s rejection of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which sought to amend Article 112 (4) of the 1992 Constitution to provide for elections to be held in the first Monday of November instead of on December 7 in every election year.
That rejection meant that this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections will still be held on December 7 instead of November 7.
A total of 125 Members of Parliament (MPs) voted for the amendment while 95 MPs voted against it by secret ballot. However the 125 members fell short of the two-thirds majority or 184 votes needed for the amendment to be carried through.
Supplementary estimates
The Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper, on July 25, 2016 presented a review of the budget and supplementary estimates to Parliament GH¢1,888,203,387.
The Speaker consequently referred the estimates to the Finance Committee of the House for consideration and report. The committee recommended the approval of the supplementary estimates.
In the ensuing debate, the Minority in Parliament said the government did not manage the economy well to warrant the request of GH¢1,888,203,387 as supplementary estimates.
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