First meeting of 9th Parliament suspended till January 21

The first meeting of the first session of the Ninth Parliament has been suspended until Tuesday, January 21, 2025.

The suspension, which took place last Thursday, was to allow the Appointments Committee to vet ministerial nominees.

It will also allow the new 275 legislators to undergo a four-day orientation workshop to acquaint themselves with the rudiments and procedures of the House.

Appointees 

Last Thursday, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, referred three ministerial nominees to the Appointments Committee for consideration.

That followed the release of a letter containing the first batch of ministerial appointments from the Presidency to the Speaker.

The nominees are the Majority Leader and MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, as Minister-designate for Finance;  Minister-designate for Energy, John Abdulai Jinapor, and  Attorney-General and Minister of Justice designate, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine.

Per the statement signed by the acting Spokesperson to the President, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the countdown to the nomination of all 60 ministers in the first 14 days in office as pledged by the President in his electioneering has begun.

Suspension 

Justifying the need for the House, which began sitting on January 8, 2025, to adjourn for 12 days, the Majority Chief Whip, Governs Kwame Agbodza, told the House presided over by the First Deputy Speaker, Bernard Ahiafor, that some names came out and had been referred to the Appointments Committee. 

“Sometimes the President communicates to the House and in some circumstances, the action is taken and then whenever Parliament is properly constituted, the Speaker reads out the communication to the House.

“We agreed that if it would please the House when further communication comes to the attention of Mr Speaker that requires a referral, he can go ahead and make those referrals and when we return on Tuesday, then Mr Speaker can bring that to the attention of the House,” he said.
 
Corroboration 

Corroborating the justification by Mr Agbodza, a Minority MP, Patrick Yaw Boamah, said the House would be expecting a supplementary list from the President on his nomination. 

“We know that list has kept a lot of my colleagues in the Chamber guessing and I believe when the list is submitted to Mr Speaker, we will go through the motions.  But I will encourage Mr Speaker and the President to take it through the Appointments Committee as said. 

“So just keep your nerves cool, once the list is submitted, we will work on it,” he assured.