Parliament suspends sitting for lack of quorum

The Speaker, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey on Tuesday morning suspended parliamentary sitting for more than two hours for lack of quorum. He said the suspension was to enable the House to reconvene to take important procedural matters hinging on the 2002 budget.

At 1030 hours, the Speaker who was visibly worried, said about 65 MPs in the house did not form a quorum to enable him to put questions that decisions could be taken on. He asked for the bell to be rung to bring in more members, who were said to be at committee meetings.

But Mr Cletus Avoka, NDC Bawku West, informed the House that most of the members were at committee meetings outside the House, such as the Ministries, which were still considering the 2002 budget estimates.

Mr Speaker said he feared that if the House did not meet to take those decisions, it could not rise sine die on Friday and would need additional three days to do that. A member cut in to say that some members were at Bimbilla campaigning for the impending by-election.

This brought Kofi Attor (NDC Ho Central) to his feet to say that the NPP had about 109 of the members that would normally support it in the House and could conveniently and constitutionally allow their own budget estimates to be passed.

He said amidst laughter that he would give the Bimbilla telephone number to Mr Abraham Ossei-Aidoo, Deputy Majority Whip, to call all NPP members of the House to come immediately.

With nothing to do, the Speaker suspended sitting at about 1100 hours to enable the House reconvene at about 1300 hours. He said the two hours break would enable them to put finishing touches to the budget estimates and return to the House.

House Fails to Form a Quorum

Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra) --- Parliament yesterday failed to form a quorum to approve 18 motions put before it for budgetary allocations to various ministries and agencies as planned.

Details of the allocations obtained by Chronicle included the sum of ?200,503million for the services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ?23,312 million for the Ministry of Youth and Sports, ?604,149 million for the Ministry of Roads and Transport and ?102,690 million for the Ministry of Lands and Forestry.

The rest are the sum of ?623,238million for the Ministry of Works and Housing, ?27,741 million for the Ministry of Manpower Development and Employment, ?1,270 million for the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, ?54,820million for the Ministry of Communications and Technology and ?3,300million for the Ministry of Private Sector Development.

Unable to undertake the main business of the day, Parliament considered eight reports by various committees which were laid before it.

Meanwhile, the President's nominees for the positions of deputy ministers of Lands and Forestry and the Interior appeared before the Vetting and Appointments Committee (VAC) of Parliament chaired by the Second Deputy Speaker and MP of Ellembelle, Hon. Freddy Blay, as they responded to questions fired at them.

The first to appear before the VAC was 59-year old Employment Consultant, Mr. Thomas Broni, nominated as Deputy Minister for Lands and Forestry.

Broni, who has been a lecturer throughout his working experience and lived most of his life in London, promised that when the position is given to him, he would impress upon his Minister to use dialogue in solving the problem of chainsaw operations which have been a nuisance to the Forestry Department.

According to him, chainsaw operators can be very violent promising that he would use any means to stay in business if they are not taken through the appropriate orientation.

Broni, who was in Parliament from 1979 to 1982, said if given the position, he might find it difficult to take some major decisions on solving situations that the Lands department is grappling with, as he openly told the VAC that he is not in favour of pulling down buildings erected on unapproved lands.

Furthermore, though aware of the laws of the land and for that matter any body who goes contrary to it should be made to face the consequences, Broni emphatically expressed his abhorrence to the action of destruction.

He was also of the view that the Forestry Commission be adequately resourced to be able to put up with their work in an efficient manner.

On the part of Mr. Kwadwo Afram Asiedu, a lawyer, who was the other person to appear before the VAC, for the designated position of Deputy Minister for the Interior, he said private security personnel should not be armed as he described them as "trigger happy" people who do not have adequate knowledge of handling weapons.

Therefore, they should be controlled by the police in the maintenance of law and order in the country.

On the spate of corruption that has engulfed the country, Asiedu maintained that an inspectorate division within the Police Service be created to check their operations to eradicate corruption in the Service.