{"id":411804,"date":"2018-03-22T06:14:44","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T06:14:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=411804"},"modified":"2018-03-22T15:39:59","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T15:39:59","slug":"ayariga-sues-govt-over-implementation-of-free-shs-masloc-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/03\/ayariga-sues-govt-over-implementation-of-free-shs-masloc-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Ayariga sues gov’t over implementation of Free SHS, MASLOC, others"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bawku Central Member of Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has sued the Akufo-Addo administration at the Supreme Court over the implementation of some of its key initiatives such as the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), Free Senior High School, Planting for Food and Jobs as well as the operations of existing agencies like the Microfinance and Small Loans Center (MASLOC) and others.<\/p>\n

Mr. Ayariga is arguing that the government failed to submit operational modalities for the policy framework of some of these programmes to Parliament.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”4IR3QFdJhQg5i1avYdQk9GyCETSFAP79″]He thus wants the court to compel\u00a0either the President or the relevant minister to present the pertinent legislation and regulations to Parliament.<\/p>\n

His lawsuit notes that he is seeking “an order of mandamus compelling the President or his assigned Ministers to bring to Parliament appropriate legislation establishing the institutions or agencies to implement the said initiatives, and to have proper regulations presented to Parliament for enactment to govern the exercise of discretionary power necessarily implicated in the implementation of\u00a0 the said initiatives once the Appropriations (No. 2) Act, 2017 (Act 951) was passed by Parliament authorizing the appropriation of the funds.”<\/p>\n

According to the lawsuit, the MP will also be seeking “An interim order of injunction restraining the President or his agents from implementing the initiatives until such time as the appropriate institutions for implementation are enacted by Parliament and the appropriate regulations to govern the implementation of the said initiatives are also approved by Parliament.”<\/p>\n

“If the court agrees with my position, then naturally, the court will be telling them that, go back to Parliament with regulations on how you are going to implement the nation builders\u2019 corps and spend 600 million this year,” Mr. Ayariga told\u00a0Citi News<\/strong> after the suit.<\/p>\n

Among Mr. Ayariga’s points of concern are the modalities for accessibility, non-discrimination agreements and systems to ensure value for money.<\/p>\n

The Ghana School Feeding Programme,\u00a0National Afforestation Programme,\u00a0 Zongo Development Fund, and the Ghana Education Trust Fund are also mentioned in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Fulfilment<\/b>\u00a0of threat<\/strong><\/p>\n

After Abuga Pele and Philip Assibit were imprisoned on February 23, 2018, for their role in the GYEEDA scandal, Mr. Ayariga’s assessment was that they were victims of a system filled with holes that festered corruption.<\/p>\n

Abuga Pele, the former National Coordinator of the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Agency (GYEEDA), was sentenced alongside the Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill International Group, Philip Assibit, to a combined jail-term of 18 years on various counts, including willfully causing financial loss to the state.<\/p>\n

The imprisoning of the two prompted Mr. Ayariga to give some state agencies an ultimatum<\/a><\/strong><\/span> to present to Parliament reforms to their regulations or face action at the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

In the week beginning February 26, he said he was going to move against every state agency exercising \u201cunfettered discretionary power without clear non-discriminatory non-arbitrary regulations approved by Parliament governing the exercises of their discretionary power.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI shall in the coming week write to each and every agency of government concerned and demand that the regulations be brought to Parliament within 30 days otherwise I will proceed to the Supreme Court to seek an injunction against all that they are doing in violation of the law,\u201d he said to Citi News<\/strong> at the time.<\/p>\n

Mr. Ayariga said he would:<\/p>\n