Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford S. Bagbin, has called upon the Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, and Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance to appear before the house.
Alban Bagbin stated that by no later than next week, they must brief the House on the steps taken to combat floods in some areas of the nation. The summoned ministers are expected to share information on the government’s plans for dealing with the canker, as stated by the former Nadowli-Kaleo MP.
“Minister responsible for Works and Housing be programmed by the Business Committee to appear before the House together with the Minister of Finance to give us a brief on the action being taken to make this a thing of the past. And so, we expect that at latest before the end of next week, these ministers should appear before us.”
“If the substantive minister is not there, there is a minister of state at the Ministry that can come and represent him. And this is a very important matter and one of the ways, we could support national leadership to find a solution is for us to pass the budget Act.”
Alban Bagbin
Alban Bagbin further encouraged all MPs to be concerned about the issue’s ongoing recurrence in order to provide a quick solution.
“It is a very important subject matter because since I entered Parliament in 1993, we have had so many statements of this nature almost every year, and we are not finding solutions to the problem.
“I think it starts from the priority settings, and Parliament must be involved and not wait until a month to the end of the year…and the budget is thrust upon you, and you have no time to talk about even increasing budget allocations.”
Alban Bagbin
The Minority Chief Whip, Governs Agbodza, made a statement on the House floor that was followed by the Speaker’s directive. According to the Adaklu MP’s statement, Accra’s flooding has caused a woman and her two children to go missing, as well as other injuries and property damage.
Chiefs Called Upon To Visit Parliament And Make Assessment Of MPs
The Speaker of Parliament urged chiefs and traditional leaders to visit the parliament house during sessions in order to evaluate the performance of their chosen representatives.
Speaker Bagbin stated in his speech that he wanted chiefs and other traditional leaders to see for themselves the job that their elected members of parliament are doing. In order to promote responsibility and preserve law and order within the legislative body, he underlined the value of such visits.
“I am praying that even our chiefs will get time to visit us and see how their sons and daughters perform in the house,” he averred.
He believed that the presence of traditional leaders in Parliament might help to keep the house law and maintain the house in an orderly fashion.
“I think it will help the speaker too to maintain law and order. When your kings and queen mothers are here, I am sure your behaviour will change. So, we encourage all of them to participate because this is their house.”
Alban Bagbin
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