A former Attorney General, Joseph Kpempa, has intimated that the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu’s revelation as to why the Speaker of Parliament was absent during the E-levy proceedings might have been influenced by the series of events in the past weeks.
Speaking on the claims by the majority leader that the Speaker’s absence was intentional, Mr. Kpempa stated that the majority leader knows what he is talking about.
“The Majority leader’s revelation might have been influenced by a number of events in spite of the fact that they may be too revealing and deep. For Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu to make such categorical statements, it will tell you that he knows exactly what he was talking about”.
Joseph Kpempa
Joseph Kpempa however, was of the view that the revelation isn’t an opened “pandora’s box” but rather an opinion of the majority leader.
“Remember that as we speak there is no MP who has experience than the majority leader. And when he is making such categorical statements, it means he’s indeed been pushed to limits where he can no longer contain”.
Joseph Kpempa
Majority leader had to say what he said
Joseph Kpempa asserted that the Majority leader had to say what he said in the circumstances of the dilemma the House found itself. This, he stated, considering the totality of what happened and transpired, regarding the return of the Speaker with the expectation that he was going to preside over the approval of the e-levy and his inability to appear to do so.
“You can say that all that we’ve seen is in the realms or conjecture of speculation because I cannot go into the mind of anybody. But what I can say also is that, there seems to be a clash of egos in Parliament and when there is a clash of egos, you will find a situation where people will behave in a very intransigent manner to frustrate government’s business”.
Joseph Kpempa
Joseph Kpempa asserted that during the E-levy approval, if the speaker himself was presiding, there would have been no controversy whatsoever and the E-levy would have been passed because the majority side and the minority side were all present.
“So, if the speaker was presiding, it was going to be very easy for the majority to have a way and by now, the E-levy would have been a law”.
Joseph Kpempa
Majority leader on Speaker’s absence
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has questioned the motives of the Speaker of Parliament in relation to the impasse that characterized business in parliament during the just-ended budget meeting.
According to him, the Speaker of Parliament is carrying out plans to stall business of the House due to his insistence on getting the Minister for Finance to allocate 1.72 billion Ghana cedis to Parliament.
The Majority Leader indicated that the Speaker openly confronted the Minister on November 17 before the budget reading on the need for such an amount to be allocated.
Addressing the press in parliament, the Suame MP, however, expressed hope that leaders will take advantage of the recess period to resolve the vexed matters concerning the e-Levy.
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