The first meeting of the second session of Parliament is being chaired by the First Deputy Speaker, Joe Osei Owusu, because the Speaker, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, is currently serving as acting President due to the absence of both the President and the Vice President.

[contextly_sidebar id=”cLpvYuCeT9tHdLtGMbisXgmJo5fp9dWn”]The House was recalled for an emergency session earlier in January after the Minority wrote to the Speaker urging him to call for the sitting to consider their motion on the alleged ‘cash for seat’ scandal.

MPs returned to the House again on Sunday, as Prof Oquaye was sworn in as Acting President by Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo.

However, this is the first normal sitting of the House since they went on recess for the Christmas holidays.

Citi News‘ Parliamentary correspondent, Duke Mensah Opoku, reported that the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu in his statement, called on Parliament to summon the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, to answer questions on the recent jailbreak at Kwabenya which resulted in the death of one policeman.

He added that the Police Command, led by the Inspector General Commander (IGP), was currently locked in a meeting with the Interior and Defence Committee of Parliament over that issue “and other related matters with regards to security in general in the country.”

The Tamale South MP also demanded that government gives clear indications on whether or not they would extend the stay of the former Guantanamo Bay detainees.

President Akufo-Addo had indicated at last week’s Media Encounter that the two former Gitmo detainees would learn their fate when the House reconvenes.

Duke Mensah Opoku also reported that, the vetting of Special Prosecutor-nominee Martin Amidu “is part of the programme of activities that will be laid out in this session of the House” along with a report from the Committee considering a motion for rescission of the AMERI deal.

“Later on, in this session of the House, we’re expecting that President [Nana Akufo-Addo] will come and deliver his State of The Nation address to the people’s representatives. With regards to the exact time that these programmes will be held, we aren’t quite sure, but we know it will be in this session of Parliament,” Duke added.

‘Meet the deadline’

The bi-partisan Committee probing the alleged extortion of expatriates during the 2017 Ghana Expatriate Business Awards, is also expected to present its report on Wednesday, which was the deadline set by Parliament when the Committee was formed.

The acting Speaker, Joe Osei-Owusu, asked the ad-hoc Committee to ensure that they meet the deadline and submit their report accordingly.

“As you know, our mandate of scrutinizing government business and holding public officials to account gained a lot of public interest till the ad-hoc committee was setup to investigate the alleged collection of various sums of monies from expatriates business during the Expatriates Business Awards in Accra. I suppose that substantial work has been done by the Committee to meet the deadline given by Mr. Speaker to enable the House consider the report during this week,” he added.

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Parliament resumes sitting after Christmas break appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This they contend will help the services discharge their duties efficiently in combating crime.

[contextly_sidebar id=”E5IJcNH3u3TGmfILP6BwQa1sw7BPIQeH”]The call follows recent cases of crime recorded in the country with the latest being the killing of a Police Officer on duty last Sunday dawn at the Kwabenya District Police station.

Suspected armed robbers raided the police station, attacked the officer on duty and freed seven cell inmates.

The police are currently on a manhunt for the seven fugitives, as well as the suspected armed robbers who attacked the Kwabenya police station.

Speaking to Citi News, Minority spokesperson on Interior and Defense, James Agalga, said the government must expedite actions to avert further crimes.

“We want to see the police service properly retooled. We want to see the Armed Forces properly retooled. With time if we don’t see that happening definitely we are going to be asking questions. We want it to be done almost immediately because our security agencies are over stretched.”

“We have received reports to the effect that the MCE of Wa [Municipal Assembly] has also been attacked, on Christmas day, the MP for Asunafo South, Eric Opoku was attacked, the NPP Chairman for Akyem Akroso was attacked. In his own words he had to return fire in order to repel his assailants. These things clearly are a reflection of the state of our security. So we need to ensure that our security services are retooled and right strategies are put in place,” he added.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Retool security agencies to fight crime – Minority demands appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.