Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has disclosed that building a consensus in Parliament in subsequent sittings and decision making will be difficult due to recent developments in the House.
Commenting on the approval of the budget by the majority group, he stated that despite the fact that it will be difficult, he believes both sides are committed towards working together.
“It will be difficult building consensus moving forward. We have to be clear, clean and honest about it. What has happened on Friday and what happened yesterday will make it difficult”.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
The Information Minister then disclosed that Parliament has only finished the first part of the budget process which is the approval of proposal. He stated that Parliament is now moving on to the other stages of the budget and key issues that are important to the minority will be addressed in the remaining phases of the budget process.
“We are now going to part two which is the approval of the estimate. Approval of the appropriation for part three and part four, passage of the revenue bills and then part 5, budget implementation. And I believe that in committing to work together, we will be able to address these issues”.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
Deputy Speaker was wearing “two hats”
Touching on the Deputy Speaker’s voting as an MP during the approval, he posited that it is a reasonable conclusion to say that one individual was “wearing two hats”. Explaining what ensued, he revealed that, the Deputy Speaker’s position could be counted as a Member of Parliament in the House in fulfillment of Article 104 and 109 of the standing orders of Parliament.
“He was not compelled or he is not required to take off one hat. He was required to wear two hats. He wore the hat of the Member of Parliament for Bekwai and at the same time wore the hat as the acting Speaker. And so, when the reckoning of the numbers was done, it was to the effect that, there were 138 members of Parliament in the chamber”.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
The Ofoase-Ayirebi MP noted that in the constitution of the Republic, in the standing orders of Parliament, before Parliament takes any binding decision, there must be at least 138 members in the chamber. He explained that it didn’t mean that 138 members must take the decision.
“When you have 138 members in the chamber and you pose the question, the majority of those who vote will be considered. In other words, if you have 138 members and 8 decide not to vote, and the majority votes, that is the decision of Parliament”.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah averred that, legitimacy is not determined by who is in the chamber but it’s determined by its consonance with the constitutional provisions and with the standing orders. And as such, why what happened yesterday, November 30, 2021 is not the same as what happened on Friday November 26, 2021 is that there were 138 MPs in the chamber before a decision was made but on Friday there were 137 members before a decision was made.
