Parliament resumes sitting

Accra, Oct. 19, GNA - Parliament resumed Tuesday with a call on members to commit themselves to the business of the House considering the large volume of work to be done within nine weeks.

Mr Cletus Avoka, the Majority Leader, said "It is a short session with huge tasks and little time" and called on members to be up to the task.

He said 12 bills pending before the House would be considered and critical among these bills were Petroleum Revenue and the Petroleum Exploration bills.

Mr Avoka said there were 33 instruments, 38 papers and several hundreds of questions 10 of which are urgent questions.

He said the 2011 budget statement of the government would be presented to the House in the second week of November.

Mr Avoka commended members for the prompt response during the recess to swear in the Speaker, Mrs Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo as the acting President of the country.

"This is a happy day and I wish all of you well," he said.

He congratulated the new member for Atiwa, Mr Amoako Atta, and told him to quickly adjust to the norms and the ethics of the House.

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Minority Leader, said the swearing in of the Speaker as the acting President was in fulfillment of the article 60 (11) of the 1992 Constitution and made the Speaker the first woman in the history of the country to act as President.

He said though the session would be very challenging and difficult members must accept these Herculean tasks as opportunities to serve their dear nation.

He called on members to be time conscious, punctual and participative in all activities on the floor of the house and other meetings.

The Speaker Justice Bamford-Addo said the enthusiasm with which members approached the recall to swear her in as acting President should propel them to embrace all work of parliament within the period.

Justice Bamford-Addo became acting President when President John Mills was in Japan on a state visit and Vice President John Mahama was in Nigeria to celebrate their 50th independence anniversary.

She said the Parliamentary Service Staff had moved into their new building and added that the government had procured laptops by the assistance of E-Ghana Project under the Ministry of Communication for all members.

Two papers, Local Government (Creation of New District Electoral Area)