You are here: HomeNews2002 01 21Article 21111

General News of Monday, 21 January 2002

Source: .

Reconciliation law in doubt!

Parliament has moved in quickly to avert a potential embarrassment that would have put the credibility of the House on the line.

The “Ghanaian Voice” has stumbled on the fact that the Marshall of Parliament, Colonel Lamptey, has been asked to investigate how The Register of Attendance of members vanished on December 20th 2001.

That was the Day the NPP rail-roaded the partisan Reconciliation Bill through Parliament. The Bill as at present has been signed by the President into law. The Bill was carried through by a voice vote, which we gathered did not form a quorum for passing the Bill.

The Reconciliation bill generated heat and storm not only in Parliament but outside. At a point the NDC minority walked out of Parliament and asked Nana Akufo Addo the Attorney General to apologise for the insulting language he used against them when presenting the Bill.

On the eve of the resolution of the Bill, the NDC members of Parliament again walked out leaving the NPP to have their day. But it is alleged that members of Parliament present could not meet the statutory figure to approve the final Bill.

The bone of contention of the Reconciliation Bill was that the minority wanted the time frame to be shifted to 1957 in line with consensus which had been reached by the various for a but the Ghanaian Voice gathered that it was a cabinet agenda to limit the time to the rule of Ex-President Rawlings.

The Law as it stands now is meant to satisfy the wishes of the political agenda of the NPP government.

If it is established and confirmed that, that particular roll call of the Reconciliation Bill has vanished it would be the first time in the political history of this country that a Register of Attendance has disappeared.