The Minority Caucus in Parliament expressed concern on Tuesday about the absence of members from the Majority side of the House from the House.

The concern was anchored on the premise that the debate on the 2023 budget, as presented by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, was expected to start with a race to pass the Appropriation Bill in time.

Though no official reason was given for the mass absence of the majority members, GhanaWeb checks show that some of the majority Members of Parliament (MPs) were out of the jurisdiction.

At least three of them were spotted in Qatar, where the 2022 FIFA World Cup is ongoing.

One of the MPs who has been in Qatar for the past two weeks is Mustapha Ussif of Yagaba-Kubori, who doubles as Minister of Youth and Sports.

He has been with the team from their training camp in Dubai through their arrival in Doha for the games. He was among the delegation that received President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo when he met the team before their match against Portugal.

Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, who doubles as the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West Constituency, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, was also spotted in Qatar, according to social media posts.

On Wednesday, November 30, Ursula took to her Facebook page to share a 'unique' photo of herself and former Dutch footballer, Patrick Stephan Kluivert.

She captioned the photo: "With Patrick Kluivert; for those old enough to remember this legendary footballer from the Netherlands!! Loving the atmosphere in Qatar!!"

Minister of Energy and Manhyia South MP, Matthew Opoku Prempeh is also in Qatar cheering on the Black Stars.

He spoke in a recent interview with Metro TV reporters after the Black Stars defeated South Korea by 3 - 2 at the Education City Stadium on Monday.

Patrick Yaw Boamah, Okaikwei Central MP is also in Qatar, where he has been sharing photos of himself on the streets and at the stadium supporting Otto Addo and his charges.



Check out some of their posts below:

Warm congratulations to the Black Stars team, management and the playing body for today's victory over the South Koreans! #WeAreGhana#BringBackTheLove #FIFAWorldCupQatar2022 ???????? @fiifitackie @eyantwi1 @GhanaBlackstars pic.twitter.com/VjT4hlqMGL

— Patrick Yaw Boamah (@pyboamah) November 28, 2022