Members of Parliament will end recess and reconvene at the Accra International Conference Centre today to resume deliberation on outstanding government businesses.
This comes after a petition filed by the New Patriotic Party Members of Parliament in accordance with Article 112(3) of the 1992 Constitution and Order 53 of the Standing Orders of Parliament, underscoring the necessity of reconvening to tackle pressing national matters that demand immediate action.
Speaker Alban Bagbin’s summon is pursuant to Article 112 (3) and orders 5 and 53 of the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana.
Speaker Alban Bagbin on Tuesday, October 22, indefinitely adjourned sitting amid a controversy over vacant seats, leaving several key parliamentary businesses such as the approval of two Supreme Court Judge nominees appointed by President Akufo-Addo and tax waivers over $350 million, in limbo.
In July this year, President Akufo-Addo nominated two new judges to the Supreme Court bench following their approval by the Judicial Council. These two professors Richard Frimpong Oppong, a legal academic and fellow of the Ghana Academy of Sciences, and Justice Sophia Rosetta Bernasko Essah, a justice of the Court of Appeal were to be approved by Parliament following a vetting by the Appointments Committee.
But they never met the Appointments Committee due to chaos, emanating from unconstitutional appointment claims by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) members on the committee.
The government in the second quarter of the year presented a $350 million tax waiver request for some 42 companies under the One District One Fund (1D1F) initiative.
However, this request was never granted on the floor of parliament during an emergency sitting, where the leader of the National Democratic Congress Caucus, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, questioned the basis for such waivers when the government is in dire need of funds as a result of the economic crisis.
On the matter, the Member of Parliament for Effutu and leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Alexander Afenyo-Markin accused the NDC MPs of stifling the progress of local companies and Ghanaian businesses with their action.
Additionally, pending bills before Parliament include the Architects Registration Bill 2024, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (Amendment) Bill 2024, the Vaccines Development and Manufacturing Bill 2024, and the Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2024.
Parliament concluded consideration of the Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2024 on October 16, during the 5th meeting of the 4th session of the 8th Parliament.
Presently, Speaker Bagbin is leading a Ghanaian delegation to the 67th Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The delegation includes Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, former Majority Leader and MP for Suame, along with the two House leaders, Whips, the Clerk to Parliament, and other Parliamentary Service officials.
The CPA Conference is set to take place from November 3 to November 8, during which Speaker Bagbin, as the outgoing CPA International President, is expected to transfer leadership to the newly elected President, the Speaker of the New South Wales Parliament.
Vacant seat controversy
Prior to the declaration of the four seats as vacant, Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin submitted an application to the Supreme Court, requesting it to prevent the Speaker from ruling on the matter in response to a motion filed by the Minority to declare the seats vacant.
However, on Wednesday, October 30, the Supreme Court declined the Speaker’s request to overturn its prior ruling suspending the Speaker’s declaration of the seats as vacant, given Afenyo-Markin’s application before the court.
The Court has now scheduled November 11 for its final judgment on the main application submitted by Mr. Afenyo-Markin.