The Minority in Parliament has expressed misgivings about the 24hour notice which members of the legislature were given to scrutinize and approve the government’s various loan agreements with institutions abroad, to finance infrastructure projects in the country.

“Mr. Speaker, the loans that we looked at were huge. We had expected the Executive to at least give Parliament enough time to look at these issues critically and to examine them, particularly the Committees on Roads and Transport and Finance that are looking at the commercial agreement”, argued the deputy Minority Leader, Dominic Nitiwul.

He made this observation last Thursday, moments after the House had considered various sums of loan agreements to finance different infrastructure projects in the Greater Accra and the Central Regions.

The legislature on October 1st and 2nd, 2014, reconvened for an emergency sitting to consider various loan agreements and other matters that had been brought before it for consideration.

Among the issues considered were the construction of the Kasoa interchange in the Central Region, additional works around the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange and the Accra Street Resurfacing Project, all totaling about US$812 million.

The legislature also considered the recapping of the US$3 billion Master Facility Agreement (MAF) between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and China Development at US$1.5 million and a request for GH¢815,693 waiver of taxes and other levies required for the implementation of the African Development Bank (AfDB) funded Institutional Support Project to Oversight and Private Sector Development Institutions (GISP).

Commenting further, Hon. Nitiwul said the Minority’s fear was borne out of the fact that Parliament may not have done enough due diligence on the various loan agreements it considered.

He said it was important for the House to ensure that in whatever it does, there was value for money.

“We don’t want to be blamed in future because of value for money. We must ensure that the right thing is done and is done properly”, he lamented.

The Deputy Majority Leader, Alfred Agbesi, in a quick response allayed the fears of Mr. Nitiwul and assured that the loans approved would be put to good use to benefit Ghanaians.

“I want to say that these must go to better the lives of Ghanaians so that the commitment of our government to see to the interest of the people of Ghana will be realized”, he noted.

The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, also in a response said the concern raised by the Minority was in good faith.

He nonetheless tasked the Committees on Roads and Highways and Finance that scrutinized the loan agreements to perform their oversight responsibilities after the approval. He assured members of his fullest support in that endeavour.