The Minority Caucus in Parliament has chastised the Majority Caucus in Parliament for accusing the Rt. Honorable Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin of sabotaging the business of the government.
The Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Ajumako Enyan Essiam Constituency in the Central Region, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, in a statement, accused the Majority Caucus of engaging in deliberate distortions and grand propaganda to whip up public sentiments against the Speaker of Parliament.
“After falling on its dagger in Parliament on Wednesday, our attention has been drawn to a mischievous statement issued by the Majority Caucus blaming the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament and the Minority Caucus for the development in Parliament.
“It is bizarre and unfortunate that the Majority Caucus accuses Mr. Speaker of arbitrariness and falsely claims that the Speaker and the Minority are sabotaging so-called government business”.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson
The Minority Leader began his remarks by debunking the Majority Caucus in Parliament’s claims that the Minority Caucus and the Speaker of Parliament deliberately shut down the approval of the government’s proposed tax waiver request before the House went on recess on Wednesday, March 20.
He accused the government and the Majority Caucus in Parliament of attempting to smuggle the tax waivers into the last-minute business of the house during yesterday’s sitting.
Dr. Ato Forson described the tax waiver being championed by the government as tainted with corruption and further alleged that it is deliberately designed to “siphon” state resources into private pockets.
Greater Accra Resilient And Integrated Development Project
Touching on the issues related to the International Development Association (IDA) loan facility that was referred to in the Majority Caucus’ statement for the proposed Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Project, Dr Ato Forson indicated that the loan facility had earlier been rejected by Parliament.
He recounted that following the rejection of the loan facility, Parliament tasked the Committee on Works and Housing to inspect work on phase one of the initial project for which the $200 million was used.
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson stated that while the Works and Housing Committee is yet to visit the site and report to the House on the Speaker’s referral, its caucus per its findings has noticed that the initial $200 million approved by Parliament for phase 1 of the project was not properly used.
He accused the ruling New Patriotic Party led by President Akufo-Addo of deliberately mismanaging the $200 million funds meant for the completion of the project.
According to Dr Ato Forson, the Minority Caucus in Parliament cannot be blamed for the failure of Parliament to approve the $150 million IDA loan when the Committee is yet to generate a report for the consideration of the House.
Moreover, the Ajumako Enyan Essiam Member of Parliament recounted that the House per its practice passed the Insolvency and Restructuring Bill, which was the only pending Bill before the House on Wednesday before it went on recess.
He attributed the ability of the House to pass the bill to the impressive attendance of the Members of the Minority Caucus in the chamber, stressing that without the presence of its members in the Chamber, the House would not have had the required numbers to pass the Bill.
Dr Ato Forson therefore, refuted the Majority Caucus’s claim that the Minority Caucus conspired with the Speaker of Parliament to sabotage government business.
He further explained that on the issue of the President’s nominees for Ministerial and Deputy Ministerial positions, the Speaker took a cue from the precedent set by President Akufo-Addo by responding accordingly and appropriately.
The Minority Leader concluded his statement by chastising President Akufo-Addo and the ruling New Patriotic Party administration for mismanaging the country’s economy which has manifested in high inflation and alarming unemployment.
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