The Deputy Chairman of Parliament\u2019s Legal and Constitutional Committee, George Loh has rejected claims by the minority that Ghana’s bailout programme from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) \u00a0needs parliamentary approval.<\/p>\n
According to him, the deal has already been approved by Parliament.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”J2RYWFbxG99R1Kw5CZk7GY5y4xtg3GRH”]He explained that the Minister of Finance during one of his appearance in Parliament presented some home grown policies which the House approved.<\/p>\n
The legislator \u00a0said government later presented the policies to the IMF for support and was approved.<\/p>\n
\u201c…We presented the proposal to IMF and they said yes it\u2019s okay. That proposal itself was presented to Parliament…the thing that we described as homegrown programme, didn\u2019t the Finance Minister bring it to Parliament? Didn\u2019t we go through it; didn\u2019t we approve it? Which of them didn\u2019t we approve? So they [Minority] should come again.\u201d<\/p>\n
George Loh was responding to the Minority in Parliament who are calling\u00a0on the IMF to freeze<\/a><\/strong><\/span> further disbursements of monies to Ghana, alleging that the deal with the fund was not constitutional because it did not receive parliamentary approval.<\/p>\n Addressing the press on Tuesday, the Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei and legal practitioner, Afenyo Markin argued that though Article 181 (3) of the constitution states that \u201cno loan shall be raised by the government on behalf of itself or any other public institution or authority otherwise than by or under the authority of an Act of Parliament,\u201d President Mahama violated the law and approved the deal without recourse to Parliament.<\/p>\n They also charged President Mahama to \u201ctake immediate corrective measures and call on the Speaker to cause Parliament to be recalled to approve\u201d the deal.<\/p>\n But watering down the minority\u2019s demands on Eyewitness News<\/strong>, George Loh said the minority’s claims is to \u201cdistract attention\u201d and they should go to court if they feel aggrieved.<\/p>\n “Let them go to court, it will be good for all of us. The NPP has always gone to court, they should go there.”<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a programme that Parliament had approved already and has been presented to the IMF for support. So what is wrong with this? I mean let\u2019s get serious in this country and stop this thing that anytime the NPP is in opposition they come and say certain things just to distract attention. I am saying that from all indications we do not need any parliamentary approval,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n The IMF has subsequently, disbursed over $200 million<\/a><\/strong> <\/span>out of a total of $918 million under the current bailout arrangement to Ghana.<\/p>\n They first released about $114 million and later, $116 million after assessing how Ghana was performing<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Godwin A. Allotey\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n