{"id":64477,"date":"2014-11-12T15:36:21","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T15:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=64477"},"modified":"2014-11-12T15:36:21","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T15:36:21","slug":"mps-buy-china-learn-burkina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/11\/mps-buy-china-learn-burkina\/","title":{"rendered":"To our MPs: Buy from China, learn from Burkina"},"content":{"rendered":"
Last week, Ghanaian MPs returned to a pimped up chamber. To accommodate all 275 members of the house, the chamber has been expanded and digitalized. The best part is that members will now vote on national issues electronically \u2013 we can hold them accountable for their votes. The worst part, all the furniture in the chamber was imported from China. The entire refurbishment contract was given to a Chinese company through sole sourcing.<\/p>\n
Someone decided that the old chairs were unworthy of the new chamber so a team was dispatched to China. And they brought back the stuffy little things, causing an uproar. The team also went to Italy to select furniture for their offices in the soon to be completed \u2018Job 600\u2019 office complex.<\/p>\n
Not all MPs are thrilled by the new purchases. Some MPs have asked for their old chairs to be returned. The MP for Lower West Akim, Gifty Klenam said the old chairs were far better than stuffy things from China. In the face of increasing economic challenges that have forced the government to apply for a financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund, everyone is wondering why the leadership chose to spend the taxpayers money on imported goods.<\/p>\n
Unsurprisingly, there has been an outpouring of excuses from the leadership justifying the trips and the purchases. The Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, Alfred Kwame Agbesi said the chairs were imported to save time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not the issue that because they say we should use made in Ghana goods, then if you want to buy 300 furniture at the end of this week, you must go from shop to shop,\u201d Agbesi told Citi FM. Other defenders have said local companies do not have the capacity to produce the quality Parliament required.<\/p>\n