Enquiries spark argument in Parliament
Enquiries made by the member for Anyaa/Sowutuom, Ms Shirley Ayokor Botchwey (NPP), about a private member’s motion she tabled more than three weeks ago, sparked an argument in Parliament yesterday.
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Ms Botchwey’s private motion, according to her, was to express concern about the recent spate of fire outbreaks in the country, especially in markets and to urge the President, Mr John Mahama, to establish a committee to investigate the fire disasters.
However, she said, after three weeks, nothing had been heard.
She said she was surprised to find out that the Speaker, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, had amended the motion and, in the new document, had sought to, instead, have a minister of state appear in the House to make a statement on the fires.
That amended motion, she added, was in no way related to her original motion.
But the Leader of Government Business in Parliament, Mr Benjamin Bewa-Nyog Kunbuor, suggested, among other things, that the changes made by the Speaker was in consultation with the member concerned and that the motion had been withdrawn.
Ms Botchwey, however, came back strongly, saying she had not had any discussion with the Speaker on the said amendments.
She said she should have been informed when the Speaker decided to revise her motion.
What was withdrawn, she said, was the Speaker’s revised motion “and not mine.”
After some back and forth between the two, the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, caught the eye of the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Ebo Barton-Odro, who was in the Speaker’s Chair at the time, and said if Mr Adjaho found it necessary to amend Ms Botchwey’s motion he should have consulted her.
He wondered how Mr Adjaho could amend the motion of an MP without consulting him or her and expect that amended motion to remain in the name of the member.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said under the Standing Orders of the House, a statement made by a minister of state in the House could not be debated and so the motion, as amended by Mr Adjaho, seeking to invite a minister of state to make a statement on the fires, could not be considered as being the same as Ms Botchwey’s motion which could be debated.
By Mark-Anthony Vinorkor/Daily Graphic/Ghana
