Hon Inusah Fuseini, a Former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, has disclosed that the constitution of the Ad-hoc Committee set up by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, could pose an obstacle at the end of the proceedings.
According to the former MP, while the membership of the committee may be trying to communicate a sense of neutrality, recent developments in the house may suggest otherwise.
The committee which was set up by the Speaker to investigate allegations of corruption and incompetence levelled against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, by the Minority caucus in Parliament in their motion of censure is evenly constituted with members from both sides of the house.
He indicated that this membership structure will prove to be a problem at the end of the seven days, when members are expected to come up with a resolution to be presented before the house.
“And there has been an attempt by the Minority to prove beyond doubt that Ken must go, and equally the Majority who are unrelenting in their defence of the Finance Minister.
“So then for the first time in our parliamentary democracy, apart from the censure motion, this is the only time a committee of Parliament has been formed which has no Majority, which has no Minority.”
Inusah Fuseini
According to the Former lawmaker, with the even distribution of the committee and the unyielding stance of both sides, it is unlikely that a consensus will be easily reached, that is, even if it is reached at all.
“Committees of Parliament take decisions based on consensus. So if it is going to be consensus, the issue would have to be put to a vote and I don’t know whether Speaker in establishing the eight member committee with co-chairmen had also thought of the custom vote.
“The constitution says that when there is a tie in parliament on an issue, the issue fails, it falls. What will happen at the committee level? So there are many issues around that.”
Inusah Fuseini
Hon Fuseini stated that he is waiting patiently to see what happens after Friday, because the issue at stake cannot be resolved at the committee level. “And like I told you when the committee was established that this issue will finally be resolved on the floor of the house”, he emphasized.
Ofori-Atta To Respond To Minority’s Allegations On November 18
At the end of day one of the sitting which lasted hours in between two sections, the counsel for Hon Ken Ofori Atta, Mr Gabby Otchere Darko requested 48 hours for his clients to study the claims contained in documents formally presented in as evidence before he properly gives his response.
The request was granted by the two co-chairs after deliberation, although the committee noted that time was of the essence. Mr. Gabi Asare Otchere-Darko, in his submission urged the committee to ensure that documents on the specifics of the proposers are made available to his client in the interest of fairness.
KT Hammond had earlier asked that Mr Ofori-Atta appear to answer the issues on Thursday, 17 November, but Mr Gabi Asare Otchere-Darko, counsel for the Minister of Finance, informed the committee that his client was not adequately prepared and proposals required 48 hours.
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Idrisu, outlined seven grounds for the Minorities’ motion of censure against Mr. Ofori-Atta. Dr Kasiel who is a Ranking Member of the Finance Committee, in his presentation to the committee on the motion, accused the Minister of deliberate and dishonestly misreporting economic data to Parliament.
READ AlSO: Censure Motion: The Process is Being Overjudicialised – Pumpuni Asante
