The Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South in the Eastern Region, Samuel Atta Akyea, has asked for an opportunity be created to quiz the President on the floor of Parliament.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that the business committee should make something very novel for this house in terms of the business for the house. I am tempted to believe that they could pencil the President to come and answer questions once a month,\u201d Mr Atta Akyea requested.<\/p>\n
He made the call at Friday\u2019s\u00a0sitting\u00a0of Parliament, but was ruled out of order by the Speaker, Edward Doe Adzaho, who argued that the Samuel Atta Akyea\u2019s demand was alien to the 1992 Constitution.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a constitutional matter and the President cannot come. I can tell you on\u00a0Authority\u00a0that on\u00a0few occasions\u00a0that even when the President wanted to come to the House, members of the leadership stopped the\u00a0him,\u201dMr Doe Adzaho said.<\/p>\n
According to him, the right individual at the presidential level authorized to answer questions on the floor Parliament is the Vice President.<\/p>\n
The Majority leader in Parliament, Dr. Ben Kumbour,\u00a0was however\u00a0quick to add that it will be difficult to bring the Vice President under the same processes under which Ministers of State answer questions in Parliament.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the Vice President\u2019s spirit moves him sufficiently and he opts to come to the House to join the debate you might use that opportunity to press home what the opposition is but it will be difficult to actually bring him under the processes under which we bring Ministers of State to come and answer a question,\u201d Mr.\u00a0Kumbour\u00a0explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecondly, you will know that there is no\u00a0very very\u00a0clear specific\u00a0mandate\u00a0for\u00a0the Vice President so anything he will be saying here will be in relation to the exercise of the Executive Authority of the President and it can get very messy,\u201dMr.\u00a0Kumbour\u00a0added.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Nsawam-Adoagyiri Member of Parliament, Frank Annor Dompreh, has expressed misgivings about the Business Committee\u2019s delay in inviting the Minister of Finance to explain why many statutory funds are in arrears, leading to serious financial crisis for various state institutions.<\/p>\n
Speaking on\u00a0Eyewitness News,<\/b>\u00a0Mr.\u00a0Dompreh\u00a0described the delay \u00a0as a breach of the constitution.<\/p>\n
He stated that the delay is having a negative impact on Ghanaians.<\/p>\n
He bemoaned the Committee\u2019s inability to deliver their duties as expected of them.<\/p>\n
\u201c I have a lot of respect for the Majority leader and the members of the Business Committee but I think that the Business Committee has not done a\u00a0 good job.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to him, \u201c there is a deliberate attempt by the President and his Ministers to flout the laws of the country\u201d<\/p>\n
He therefore emphasized the need for members of Parliament to address the issue with immediacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister of Finance and the President is hiding something from us and we must use all tools available to us to demand legitimate answers and until this is done, some of us will never rest,\u201dMr.\u00a0Dompreh\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
By: Marian Efe Ansah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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