Deputy Minority Leader in Parliament, James Klutse Avedzi has debunked claims by Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, that the Speaker threatened to reject the budget should government fail to allocate ¢1.7 billion to Parliament.
According to him, in a meeting held prior to the budget presentation, what Alban Bagbin did was to question whether the GHC510m budget allocated to Parliament was ample for the House to perform its duties. Mr Avedzi explained that this happened because the Speaker had already engaged the President for the judiciary’s budget and the legislature to be increased to 5% of the total Budget.
“This year, Parliament has made a proposal in terms of the request for a total of 2% of the Budget. So, he was asking the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, how much has been approved for Parliament and the Minister said ¢510 million… Speaker said if we made a request for ¢1.7 billion and you are giving us ¢510 million ‘do you think that can enable Parliament to perform well? He never threatened that ‘if you don’t give me ¢1.7 billion, your budget will be rejected”.
James Klutse Avedzi
Majority Leader accuses Speaker of parliament
Speaking at a press conference following the brawl which occurred in parliament regarding the approval of the E-Levy Bill on Tuesday, 21 December, 2021, the Majority Leader indicated that Mr Alban Bagbin is to be blamed for all the commotion. He intimated that the disorder began on November 17 when the finance minister presented the Budget.
According to him, prior to the Finance Minister’s presentation, the Speaker had threatened Mr Ofori-Atta that he should either allocate ¢1.72 billion of the projected revenue to Parliament or have the budget withdrawn. This, he revealed, resulted in the delay of the Budget presentation.
“So, all that is playing out, it goes to satisfy what the Speaker indicated at the very beginning of the presentation of the Budget that he’d make sure this Budget was rejected. Is that the case? The people of this country ought to know the mindset of this Speaker with respect to this Budget.”
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu
Commenting, on this, Mr Klutse Avedzi denied the majority leader’s comments. The Ketu North legislator reckons that the Majority Caucus is to be held responsible particularly for what transpired on Monday, December 20, during the debate on E-levy.
Mr Avedzi noted that the press conference organised by the Majority Leader is only an attempt to redeem his image after losing face as a Leader of the NPP in the House. He explained that the majority caucus delayed in putting forward the e-levy bill before the House until late into the night because they did not have enough numbers to get the bill passed.
“That is what happened, so they shouldn’t blame Bagbin. He is also treating his health and needs to do things according to his doctor’s instructions. But, because of your machinations, you cannot keep the Speaker in his office for all these long hours”.
James Klutse Avedzi
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