The Member of Parliament for Asokwa, Patricia Appiagye, has linked the rising unemployment rate in Ghana to the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme introduced by president Akufo-Addo.
In an interview on Oyerepa TV on August 12, 2024, Appiagye claimed that the Free SHS initiative has led to an increased number of graduates who are struggling to find jobs.
She pointed out that while the government has rolled out various programs to provide skills and employment opportunities, many youths are only pursuing traditional white-collar positions.
She emphasized that the government’s skill training and agricultural programs offer viable alternatives but are often ignored. “
“It is true that unemployment is increasing. It is arising out of Free Senior High School. Because now we are educating more people and most of them are done with school but have no jobs.
“But there are other interventions (which can help them), but they don’t want it. That is what I’m talking about. If we are able to educate people on entrepreneurship [and] how people can start their own jobs, we would not be having these issues,” she said in Twi.
She explained, “There are social interventions [and] agricultural interventions. We are doing skills training for people to be able to have a livelihood. For instance, one can use the space you see at the back for a farm. Cultivating even pepper would make sure you have food to eat every day. So, the problem is that we ignore the low-hanging fruits that can actually help. Everybody wants to go and sit at the office.”
Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has denied accusations of attempting to obstruct the passage of the anti-LGBT bill.
He underscored his intent to replace imprisonment, as outlined in the bill, with community service.
In a House session on Wednesday, Afenyo-Markin clarified, stating, “Mr Speaker, I need to emphasize that no attempt whatsoever is being made by me to stall this important bill.”
He expressed a desire for the bill’s passage to reflect unity and consensus among members.
Contrary to accusations, Afenyo-Markin aims for collaborative decision-making within the House.
Previously, he filed a motion for a second consideration of the bill, proposing an amendment to substitute imprisonment with community service.
During a session on February 21, the House proceeded to amend approximately thirteen clauses.
However, when a question was posed about support for the proposed amendment, the majority voted against it.
Following this outcome, Speaker Alban Bagbin instructed Afenyo-Markin to withdraw a similar proposed amendment, which he complied with.
Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has noted that the lives of some former legislators are filled with regrets and pains.
A Member of Parliament is perceived to be powerful, resourceful, and wealthy, but for some, the reality is quite different, he said.
This he stated is because “many MPs have retired as paupers and have had to endure the pain and stress of paying for private loans they contracted during their time in office to provide for the needs of their constituents.”
According to him, “although lawmakers are not strictly speaking, development agents, many MPs, and I am of no exception, have had to dig so deep into their private pockets to provide private infrastructure to benefit underserved communities in their constituencies.
He described the situation as unhealthy.
“If you do your checklist from 1992 to date and you see the situation that former MPs find themselves, you will regret and wonder why this perception of MPs, politicians being corrupt or they amass wealth – you can have a survey on this to rebuff this point I am making, but you realise that many MPs are really suffering after leaving office and sometimes they don’t have means of paying for their own medical bills,” he emphasised.
Touching on parliamentary issues, the Effutu MP says the drama that characterises some of the debates on the floor is only for the cameras.
“Let me reveal some secret; when you see MPs at each other’s throats, don’t be misled. Perhaps it may be for the optics,” he disclosed.
He also noted that “sometimes a point that a member of one side may not want to make, he would want to pass it on to a colleague on the other side to still make it on the floor.”
Alexander Afenyo-Markin, theDeputy Majority Leader, has suggested that the 275-seat in Parliament be decreased to 200 seats.
According to the member of parliament from the Effutu seat, this will reduce the strain on the public coffers.
“I must say that one critical thing to look at is to put an upper limit on the number of MPs that we must elect each year. It is unpalatable that a small country like Ghana with its many financial problems has 275 MPs. In contrast with all its financial muscle, Australia has 151 and 76 senators. We need a change in the law to stop the unnecessary expansion in the number of seats in our Parliament.”
The Effutu legislator made the comments at this year’s GIMPA Law Conference on Wednesday, March 15.
He added thatGhananeeds an Upper chamber which will be known as the House of Elders. To this end, he has proposed that the Council of State be converted to serve this purpose.
“I hold the view that Ghana needs an upper chamber, it should be known as the House of Elders whose election shall remain non-partisan and whose primary role shall be to moderate the current parliamentary excesses and extreme partisanship.
“Thus the Council of State should be converted into the Upper Chamber of Parliament…I am not suggesting that the current Council of State is not helpful.”
Mr. Afenyo-Markin also lamented challenges regarding the role of MPs stating that they have become development agents contrary to their lawmaking and representation of electorate functions.
This he said has made some MPs retire as paupers and live miserable lives. He added that claims that some MPs are corrupt are completely untrue if one looks at the life of some MPs after they leave the House.
“Although lawmakers are not strictly speaking development agents, many MPs have had to dig so deep into their private pockets to provide public infrastructure to benefit underserved communities in their constituencies. In the process, many MPs have retired as paupers and have to deal with the pain of paying for private loans they contracted in their time in office to provide for the needs of their constituents.”
The minority in parliament has officially moved a motion for a vote of censure to be passed on the minister for finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
The Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin, sought to object to the motion when the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, moved it a few minutes to 2 p.m. on Thursday, September 10, 2022.
The motion hinged on Article 82 of the 1992 Constitution and, according to the minority, is influenced by issues such as the mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy by the minister.
Midway through the minority leader’s presentation, the deputy majority leader asked the speaker for permission to raise a preliminary objection to the motion.
However, his attempt was met with heckling from members on the minority side who shouted at the Deputy Majority Leader to “sit down.”
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, intervened immediately and caused the members of the house to take into consideration the importance of the exercise being undertaken.
The speaker implored the MPs to exercise decorum in the discharge of their mandate.
The speaker, however, refused the objection request by the deputy majority leader and granted the minority leader the opportunity to go ahead and move the motion.
Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin says the Cedi has gained some value against the US dollar following moves in parliament to remove Ken Ofori-Atta as Finance Minister.
According to him, the action being taken by the minority concerning a motion for a vote of censure against Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister, has begun restoring some level of confidence in the Ghanaian economy.
“Because of this motion, you know what has happened to the state of our Cedi. Just because people are given confidence that action is being taken, the Cedi gained some value, and parliament should be commended. It climbed from about 16 to a dollar to around 13, that is a serious gain for this country, and it’s because there is some confidence being given to the people that action is being taken to rectify the wrongs. Please let’s play our role properly and effectively, and at the end of the day, we’ll all benefit,” he told MPs on Thursday.
Meanwhile, he thanked the Deputy Majority Leader, Afenyo Markin, for drawing the attention of the House with regard to the proper procedure in filing the motion for a vote of censure against Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
“You’ve done well by drawing our attention, but I think the proper thing has been done, and we should leave it as it is. I know as we keep on jaw-jawing, we’ll do what is proper in this House.”
The deputy majority leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, had argued that the minority MPs failed to attach evidence to the motion to back their claims.
“Mr. Speaker, I beg to submit that the legal grounds or grounds for submission are not embedded in the motion. I am saying that Mr. Speaker, the motion is supposed to be advertised; that is what the constitution says. The constitution is not saying that you should accompany it with allegations as part of the motion; that is my contention. And if they beg to disagree, they should say so for the records to capture. And if there is any other provision that perhaps I have not read which allows you to state allegations, not fact, to support your motion, they should again draw my attention; we are here to learn. I’m not ashamed if I get it wrong, and I’m corrected. Mr. Speaker, I so submit.”
Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu however, rubbished the claim arguing there’s enough evidence to impeach Ken Ofori-Atta.
“We have made reference to constitutional provisions of Article 178, 176, and 82. Mr. Speaker to demonstrate with facts on this floor that the Minister is in breach of the law apart from the fact that he’s trashed the Ghanaian economy, we’ll do so. You cannot question the competence of the Speaker in admitting the motion. And we have not given you any fact, we are only giving you headlines of the matters to which we’ll lead with evidence.”
Background
Members of Parliament on the Minority side have tabled a motion for a vote of censure on Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister, filed on Monday.
The minority cites the gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship among others.
The motion was filed a day before parliament resumed from recess.
