Speaker angry with Ministers of State for failing to attend upon the House

The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, has warned ministers of state who refuse to honour invitations to the House to answer questions that the House will deal with them if they do not discontinue the practice.

"The democratic path we have chosen should not be allowed to be undermined.. The right of oversight over the Executive should always stand," he said.

Mr Adjaho issued the warning after MPs had expressed anger at the “blatant” disregard of the authority of the House by some ministers.
They insisted that Parliament needed to “bite hard" to show that it had oversight responsibility over the Executive.

The lawmakers were angered that Cabinet ministers and their deputies were stalling and undermining the work of Parliament by failing to honour invitations to the House to answer questions.

Ministers refuse to appear

The anger was in connection with the inability of the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development and his two deputies to honour the invitation of the House to answer questions on the steps being taken to prevent floods in Accra and other regional capitals following the June 3, 2015 flood and fire disasters that claimed more than 150 lives.

The minister and his two deputies had, for the third time, failed to present themselves to answer questions by members.

When the invitation first went out, the ministry communicated to the House that the minister and his team would be away in the Northern Region on a National Sanitation Day exercise.

They, however, failed to appear for the second time and no reasons were assigned for their absence.

Parliament then fixed yesterday for them to appear, but they failed to present themselves on the floor of the House.

The Majority Chief Whip, Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, indicated that as part of his duties, he had communicated with the deputy ministers, reminding them of their assignment in the House and they had assured him that they would be present.

“I am personally disappointed by the behaviour of the minister and his two deputies, especially when all of them are members of this House and know very well the rules of the Legislature.

“They have been informed adequately through the laid down procedure. I have given the deputies several reminders and even this morning I called them. I have been calling them for the past 40 minutes and they are not responding to my calls,” he said.

“They keep coming up with one excuse or another for the Order Paper to be amended. They think Parliament should pander to their whims and caprices,” Alhaji Muntaka added, and urged the Speaker to take the necessary action if the minister or his deputies did not appear before the House today, July 15, 2015 to answer those urgent questions.

The member for Manhyia South, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, said it was because of the attitude of some minsters of state towards Parliament that Ghanaians often ridiculed the House.

He said it was time Parliament exerted its authority and stopped pampering ministers.

The member for Sunyani West, Mr Ignatius Baffuor Awuah, was of the opinion that it was time the Legislature exerted its influence and showed it was independent of the Executive.

"This House should for once bite these ministers to show that the House has powers,” he said.

The member for Sekondi, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, said it was unfortunate that some ministers who had been invited to answer questions were undermining the authority of Parliament, compelling the Speaker to invoke the powers of the House.

“The matter is even more serious when it is ministers who are also members of the House who are behaving like this,” he lamented, adding, “The President should tell his ministers to take matters seriously.”

The Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said the attitude of the ministers was an affront to the authority of Parliament.
“Their conduct is stalling the conduct of business in this House,” he said.
The Deputy Majority Leader, Alfred Agbesi, asked the Speaker to rule on the matter if the ministers did not attend to the House today as agreed.

Speaker's ruling

Mr Adjaho, visibly angered, summoned the ministers to appear today to answer those questions “or appropriate sanctions will be brought against them”.

He said if neither of the deputies ministers was in the House today, Parliament would decide what to do with them.
"We cannot tolerate this in this House," he said.