Speaker could serve a jail term of 10 years if he is found guilty –Dr. Kwaku Agyeman-Budu
Dr. Kwaku Agyeman-Budu, the head of Law Centers at the Faculty of Law, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), has revealed that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin could serve a jail term of 10 years if he is found guilty of overseeing the rejection of the 2022 Budget. He said, “I think that there is that issue of constitutionality that could be determined by the Supreme Court, and if you read article 2 of the constitution, for instance, a citizen of Ghana can bring an action in the Supreme Court where you believe that any person has acted or omitted to act in a way that is inconsistent with or in contravention of the Constitution or any provision thereof,” he said. “And if you read closely Article 2, you will find out that the Supreme Court has the power to declare any such act of any person unconstitutional or inconsistent with the provision of the Constitution and they have the power to make consequential orders to give effect to that particular declaration or decision that they will make.” “To the extent that all those persons to whom such orders of the Supreme Court are directed are bound by the Constitution to obey the orders of the Supreme Court or risk being convicted for what is referred to as high crime under the Constitution; which carries a jail term of ten years and not being able to hold public office for ten years,”Asaase.com quoted Meanwhile, even though the majority of MPs disagree with the Speaker’s verdict, Speaker Alban Bagbin has concluded that the 2022 budget was lawfully rejected, therefore, Ghanaians should pay a deaf ear to the cry of the majority. “Please let it be known that there were more than 137 MPs on the floor when I put the question for the approval or rejection of the Economic Policy and Financial Statement of the government for the 2022 financial year often referred to as the Budget for 2022,” he wrote in a Facebook post. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
Speaker is a talkative–John Boadu claims
John Boadu, General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), has thrown a verbal attack on Rt. Hon. Alban Kingsford Bagbin Ghana Speaker of Parliament. He said his new comments about having the power to remove President Akufo-Addo are clear signs that he talks anyhow. Mr. Boadu who was speaking to party members in Mankessim, said it is obvious that Mr. Bagbin is dazed by his current status because he never dreamt of becoming the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament throughout his political career. “The Speaker talks anyhow, now he even says he can remove the president but the president cannot remove him. He has forgotten that even if the president will be impeached he as a Speaker doesn’t have a vote but he is just boasting. “I don’t know what is wrong with him, he has inferiority complex, he is overwhelmed by his current status so sometimes he says things that do not make sense but we have to indulge him,” Mr. Boadu stated. Mr. Boadu came as a response to the Speaker’s recent pronounce that the law gives Parliament the powers to remove a president but does not give the same powers to a president to be able to remove a Speaker of Parliament. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
Manner of attempted arrest of Sosu offends Constitution — Bagbin
Speaker of Parliament has reacted to the manner in which the police attempted to arrest Mr Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, MP of Madina Constituency as offending the Constitution of Ghana. He described the attempted arrest of the legislator last Sunday, 31st October 2021, in church as ”surreptitious”, offending both the letter, and spirit that underpins the current 1992 Constitution of Ghana. “The appropriate procedure is to secure from the Speaker, a certificate that the Member in question is not attending Parliamentary Business. Anything short of this should not be entertained by the House,” Mr Eric Owusu Mensah, Deputy Clerk of Parliament, acting for the Clerk of Parliament, wrote in a press release on the instructions of the Speaker. The release made available on the WhatsApp platform page of the Parliamentary Press Corps, said the Speaker has taken note, also, of press releases and the posture of the Police Service including the interdiction of Inspector Daniel Agbavor, the Police Officer providing personal protection of Mr Sosu. According to the release, the Speaker found it difficult to comprehend the attempted arrest of the legislator, and that “the Speaker acknowledges that Members of Parliament are not above the law.” And “the issue is not that a Member of Parliament cannot be investigated or arrested. The issue is the procedure to follow to investigate or arrest a Member of Parliament.” The Speaker noted that “several Members of Parliament from both sides of the House have been investigated, arraigned before court and tried since 1993. Some Members are presently before various Courts of law or investigative bodies. “ The release noted the House had cooperated with the Police and other security agencies, in investigation of Members of the House from both sides over years, “and in all instances the Office of the Speaker has engaged and facilitated the work of the Police Service.” The Speaker said the release did not seek to suggest that Members of Parliament and Parliament were not subject to the Law. Equally, the release observed that “the Police Service is a vassal of the Constitution and Statute passed by Parliament, and formed part of the Public Service of Ghana and equally must not hold itself above the law. The Speaker said immunities and privileges of a Member of Parliament are borne out by experience from various democracies around the world, and being part of the provisions in the 1992 Constitution are for good reasons. He referred to the 1969 Constitution of Ghana and the 1968 Constitution Commission Report of Justice Edward Akufo-Addo which he said justified “the need for parliamentary immunity from arrest and service of court processes by maintaining such immunity ensured that Members of Parliament were not distracted by arrest and detention while attending Parliamentary business. “ The release reiterated the position of the Speaker that “immunities and privileges of Members of Parliament are not absolute, and that “the procedure for causing arrest of a sitting Member of Parliament or serving court processes must be in accordance with the Constitution.” On the interdiction of the body guard of the MP for Madina Constituency, the Speaker said he believed the action taken by the Police Service to “interdict the bodyguard of the Member of Parliament for Madina could affect the morale of all bodyguards of Members of Parliament and weaken the ability of the guards to provide the needed protection of Members of Parliament.” The Speaker assured Ghanaians that he he swore an oath at his election as Speaker to discharge his duties and to uphold, protect and defend conscientiously the Constitution of Ghana and would continue to do just that. GNA Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
Africa’s poverty not wealth but poverty of the mind – Bagbin
The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban S.K. Bagbin has charged the government to develop and promote indigenous language and values to help preserve the country’s cultural heritage. He stressed that, no country had developed relying on another country’s cultural identity. Mr. Bagbin noted that African countries had over the years followed the ideas and value systems borrowed from other cultures that do not conform to our way of life. The Speaker made call when a section of the leadership of the Tijaniya Muslim Council of Ghana led by Sheik Muhammed Mutawakil Iddris paid a courtesy call on him in Parliament. Tijaniya is one of the contemporary forms of the Sufi movement which came from the teachings of Sidi Ahmad al Tijani in North Africa but now increasingly prevalent in West Africa, predominantly in Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, Niger, Chad, Sudan and Northern Nigeria. Its devotees are called Tijānī. The delegation was in Parliament to among other things discuss issues of mutual cooperation and also congratulate Mr Bagbin on his elevation to the high office of the Speaker of Parliament. The Speaker noted further that Ghanaians and Africans talk a lot about using the measures or benchmark of the western world to champion their development which was not realistic. That he said had led to the continent’s underdevelopment because “the poverty in Africa is not the poverty of wealth or property but rather it is the poverty of the mind”. He urged a radical approach to change the mindsets of Africans, particularly the youth. The youth according to Speaker Bagbin are always tagged as being less patient, emotional and more prone to violence, but this he said must be blamed on the kind of systems the youth are pushed into which must see a paradigm shift. The Leader of the delegation Sheik Muhammed Mutawakil Iddris expressed gratitude to the Speaker for the support he has over years given the Tijaniya Muslim Council and also appealed to him to continue to support the many initiatives and programmes of the council in the areas of Agriculture, Education and youth empowerment.
Bagbin to meet Ablakwa over his resignation from Appointments Committee
Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin will be meeting North Tongu Lawmaker Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa over the latter’s resignation from the Appointments Committee of Parliament, TV3’s Parliamentary Correspondent Komla Klutse, has reported on Wednesday March 31. Mr Ablakwa has said after days of careful reflection, he has decided to resign from the Appointments Committee of Parliament. Komla Klutse reported that the former Deputy Education Minister said he will not rescind his decision. Mr Ablakwa said in a letter dated March 30, and addressed to the Speaker, Alban Kingsford Bagbin that “after days of careful reflection and thoughtful considerations. “I shall like to state that the reasons for this difficult decision is both personal and on principle.” This comes just days after the Appointments Committee members especially the National Democratic Congress (NDC) lawmakers received flak from their own party supporters and other members of the public for approving some of President Akufo-Addo’s ministers who they believed should have been rejected by the Committee. 3news Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
Bank Collapse: Speaker Bagbin sets up nine-member committee for probe
The drastic financial sector clean-up by the regulator Bank of Ghana in 2017 which led to the collapse of some major banks and some microfinance companies in the country, has been revisited in Parliament. Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has led the setting up of a nine-member committee to look into a petition presented to the House by two majority shareholders of uniBank and UT Bank. The petition called for an investigation into the conduct of the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Stock Exchange in the revocation of the licences of UT Bank and uniBank. The Speaker, after the petition was officially brought before him by the Bawku Central legislator, Mahama Ayariga, proposed a seven-member committee. But on the floor of the House on Tuesday, Mr. Bagbin indicated that his earlier ruling had been revised. The First Deputy Speaker and Member of Parliament (MP) for Bekwai, Joseph Osei-Wusu will chair the committee. “It is directed to consider the petitions and duly report to the House at the commencement of the Second Meeting. The Committee is composed in consultation with leadership”, the Speaker noted. Other members are Alexander Afenyo- Markin (MP, Effutu), Joe Ghartey (MP, Essikando-Ketan), Patrick Yaw Boamah (MP, Okaikwei Central), Samuel Atta-Akyea (MP, Abuakwa South), James Klutse Avedzi (MP, Ketu North), Hon. Cassiel Ato Forson (MP, Ajumako Enyan Esiam), Isaac Adongo (MP, Bolagtanga Central) and Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare (MP, Berekum). Opposition to committee Even before the committee will be formed, some Majority members kicked against the Parliamentary probe because of the ongoing litigation involving one of the banks. For instance, the Okaikoi Central MP, Patrick Boamah, said the petition will achieve no result as the House does not have the power to intervene. The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu, also wanted the Speaker, Alban Bagbin to reconsider the planned inquiry into the dissolution of the banks. He made the point that the committee’s work would impair the adjudication of the two cases currently before the Supreme Court. But Alban Bagbin in a detailed report assured that admitting and laying of the petitions will not be a contravention. Consistent with prior parliamentary practice, I may exercise my discretion to provide for occasions in the sub judice rule may be permitted in order to prevent a real and substantial danger of prejudice to a proceeding, and to ensure that a Member, in making reference to that matter does not seek to pass judgment on or prejudice the matter, he said. Petition and collapse of banks Former stakeholders of the banks, Prince Kofi Amoabeng and Dr. Kwabena Duffuor petitioned Parliament to investigate the conduct of the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Stock Exchange in the revocation of the licences of UT Bank as well as uniBank and delisting them from the country’s stock exchange. The petition also sought the restoration of the licences of these banks. Dr. Duffuor, founder of now-defunct uniBank and Mr. Amoabeng, former Chief Executive Officer of collapsed UT bank, had the licences of their respective financial institutions revoked during the banking sector clean-up which commenced in 2017. For UT Bank, the apex bank claimed it took the action against the institution because it was insolvent and was unable to recapitalize despite several assurances from the company’s shareholders. The apex bank also gave similar reasons for the revocation of uniBank’s licence saying the financial institution was significantly undercapitalised. ModernGhana Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
Speaker appoints Asiedu Nketia to serve on Parliamentary Board
Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban S.K. Bagbin has appointed the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia to serve on the Parliamentary Service Board (PSB). The PBS is chaired by the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Bagbin. Other members of the board are the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Leader of Government Business in Parliament, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu and Mr Abraham Osei Aidoo, who is a former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament and former Majority Leader. The Speaker thanked the committee for its advice and assured that he would proceed to appoint the persons named as members of the PSB. “But I want to note that the former Parliamentary Service Board had Honorable Hackman Owusu-Agyeman as a member of the board and Hackman Owusu Agyeman later became the Chairman of the Council of Elders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). “That one was not intrusion into the governance of Parliament by a political party. What is good for the gander is also good for the goose. Honorable members the board will be constituted and we will start our work,” he said. 3news Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
Appear in 2 hours to answer question; stop disrespecting Parliament! Speaker orders Health Minister
Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has summoned Health Minister Kweku Agyeman-Manu to appear before the house in the next two hours to answer a question concerning his ministry. The question stands in the name of the Member of Parliament for Sefwi Akontombra, Alex Tetteh Djornobuah. Mr Djornobuah wants to know from the minister the type of health facility being constructed in Sefwi Akontombra and when it will be completed and handed over. Minority Chief Whip Annoh Dompreh pleaded with the Speaker to defer the question, as, according to him, the minister had indicated his absence to the Majority Caucus. However, this did not sit well with Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak, who argued that such habits on the part of ministers must not be tolerated. In his ruling, the Speaker said ministers must take Parliament seriously and, therefore, demanded that the minister appear in two hours to answer the question. He said: “The minister responsible for health is aware that a question has been scheduled for today. The reason he has given for his inability to present himself to the house to answer the question is completely disrespectful to parliament and I’m not going to take that”. “I direct the minister appear before parliament in the next two hours to answer the question. Failing to do so… ministers must take parliamentary business seriously…within two hours, the minister must appear to answer this question.” Classfm Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
Akufo-Addo increases Parliament’s budget after Bagbin threat
President Nana Akufo-Addo has increased the budgetary allocation of Parliament following a complaint by Speaker Alban Bagbin. Mr Bagbin has expressed qualms about the earlier capping of the budget for the legislature and judiciary in the 2021 budget. Mr Bagbin had threatened that if the Executive failed to review the allocations, the House was not going to approve the 2021 budget and economic statement presented on Friday, 12 March. While the allocation for the Judiciary was slashed by some GHS70 million, that of the Legislature was reduced by GHS190 million. “Respectfully, I’m unable to accept such reduction,” the Speaker said in Parliament on Tuesday, 16 March. “The budget is not for the Executive”, he noted, adding: “We have the final power to approve or disapprove and, so, what the Constitution has done is for them to make recommendations and negotiate during the deliberations of the budget before the House”. “It’s not for the Executive to impose [a] ceiling on the Judiciary or Parliament. We’ve to do the right thing,” Mr Bagbin insisted. He said: “So far as I remain the Speaker of this House, I’ll insist that the right thing is done” and threatened not to forward the appropriation bill to the President for his assent when passed if “the right thing is not done.” “And, so, during the considerations of the [budget] estimate, particularly the committees concerned, take that on board and at the end of the day, come and explain to us the negotiated figure and not the ceiling that has been given by the president. That is not the [intent] of the 1992 Constitution”. “If you do otherwise, I, as your Speaker, will not affirm any letter for submission to the President for his assent, I mean what I am saying.” A response from the Presidency to Parliament read by the Speaker on Wednesday, 24 March 2021, said GHS523 million has now been approved for Parliament as against a request of GHS533 million. Mr Bagbin read the response thus: “The government recommends that Parliament and the parliamentary service operates within the proposed budget above while government explores opportunity to increase the allocation in subsequent budgets when revenue improves and debt has stabilised”. “Accordingly, Parliament is respectfully requested to keep the estimates of Parliament and the parliamentary service within the expenditure proposed above to enable the government to contain expenditures within the overall fiscal space for 2021.” Mr Bagbin added: “I am drawing the attention of the Special Budgets Committee to the new recommendation and to urge the committee to consider the budget estimates for Parliament and the parliamentary service along those lines”. Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
Don’t make people think we are enemies – Bagbin to Mensah-Bonsu
Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has said many people are wondering whether or not the Majority Leader Osei Mensah Bonsu is his still his friend. This was after the Majority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu engaged in heated exchanges on the floor of the House. The Suame lawmaker had asked the speaker to be consistent with his rule regarding hose Members of Parliament who want to rise and speak should go about it. The leader of the government said “Mr Speaker, even when you were the Deputy Speaker, you were insistent that members speak from their seats to so that you will be able to identify them but I noticed that you gather steam to make that pronouncement yet as they days went on you relaxed the rules. “I will encourage you to be consistent with this so that everybody will speak from his or her seat . That should not be relaxed, I will encourage you to do that.” In a reply, the Speaker said “Honorable Majority Leader, the Business of Government is led by you in this house. You don’t lead parliament, you lead the business of the House, you lead the Majority and you lead government business.” “As to the role of the speaker you have not reached there yet, when you get there you will do so,” he stated amidst laughter from the other lawmakers.” The former MP for Nadowli Kaleo further stated that “Please you have been my very good friend for all these years until I became speaker and everybody in Ghana is doubting whether you were really my friend . I receive a lot of calls about that and I said you are my friends and you are still my friend and people are doubting it. Please don’t give credence to that doubt.” Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said again that “Respectfully, I have not been your friend until you became the speaker. You and I know that we are still friends but we agree to disagree.” 3news Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093