Osei Bonsu Amoah, the Member of Parliament for Akwapim South and Deputy Minister for Local Government, Decntralisation and Rural Development has described the current happenings in Parliament regarding the approval of the 2022 Budget Statement as embarrassing.
Speaking on The Forum on Saturday (4 December), Amoah said people can seek interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution to prevent dragging the name of House in a dog fight.
He said, “The issue of what we have been doing in Parliament as far as I’m concerned, it’s very embarrassing. This should not happen at all and if you know the history of House, the pedigree of Parliament, those who sit in Parliament should behave and behave well.”
“You’re there to debate and make laws, you’re there to take decisions, and at the end of the day, if it goes one way or the other and you’re not able to reverse it, we have the courts to assist especially, the Supreme Court to interpret the provisions of the Constitution. So, there’s no way in using abusive words and being bold enough to drag the seat of the Speaker of Parliament. That’s affront to the dignity of Parliament,” he stated.
Dr Obed Asamoah, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice in the Rawlings Administration earlier urged both sides of Parliament to come to a consensus and pass the 2022 Budget Statement.
However, Asamoah said without a compromise from both parties to approve the budget, one must seek interpretation of the law from the Supreme Court to settle the issue.
Chaotic scenes
Parliament recorded chaotic scenes on Wednesday (1 December 2021) after the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, threw out a motion from the Minority side of the House.
The Minority moved the motion for the House to reverse its decision of Tuesday (30 November) which approved of the 2022 Budget.
According to Osei-Owusu, the Standing Orders of the House are clear on the numbers that meet the terms for the quorum needed to commence proceedings and the quorum for taking decisions.
The ruling caused chaos as members of the Minority challenged the outcome, leading to the House being suspended for an hour.
The MP for Ashaiman, Ernest Norgbey, then dragged the Speaker’s chair from its position into the walkway after sitting was suspended.
Nicholas Brown
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