Minority MPs fight Speaker over Merchant Bank-Fortiz deal
The Minority group in Parliament has said it will conduct its own investigations into the sale of Merchant Bank Ghana (MBG) to Fortiz Equity Fund Ltd, following what it termed the use by the Majority group of its numbers to stifle official parliamentary investigations.
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“The purpose of our self-imposed enquiry is not to stir the hornet’s nest. It is not intended to witch-hunt anybody or undermine any legitimate process that is above board. We are aware that the banks depend largely on their reputations. Notwithstanding, we intend to apply a fine comb to analyse the sale to ensure that if at all it had to be sold, the people whose monies have been invested would have value for money,” said the Minority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, at a news conference in Accra yesterday.
“We appeal to all who have any material evidence relating to the Merchant Bank-Fortiz saga to avail same to us. In the fullness of time, we shall make our observations and conclusions public and the citizens of this country will judge for themselves,” he added.
He said as representatives of the people, the Minority group was “doubly resolved” as enjoined by Article 41 (f) of the 1992 Constitution to protect and preserve public property and expose and combat misuse and waste of public funds and property.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said contrary to the ruling by the Speaker last Monday, there was no provision in the Constitution which forbade Parliament from commenting or deliberating on any matter before court in as much as it did not prejudice the interest of the parties to the action.
He accused Mr Adjaho of double standards, saying two issues had come up in the past in which Mr Adjaho ruled that a matter before court did not bar Parliament from discussing it.
Kunbuor reacts
But the Majority Leader, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, in a reaction, said the Minority Leader and his entire group risked being suspended from the House for accusing the Speaker of Parliament of double standards and, in a subtle way, suggesting that he lacked integrity.
He said the statements made by the group at the news conference, according to the rules of the House, were contemptuous of the Speaker and the House.
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In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Dr Kunbuor said the rules on disagreements with the Speaker on any ruling he makes are very clear.
“As long as you do not engage the Speaker under the Standing Orders and you choose to go and hold a press conference attacking him it amounts to contempt and it is a matter for the privileges committee. The consequences are quite clear and I hope that when it gets to that point, they are not going to say that the Speaker is engaging in witch-hunting.
For political expediency, the Speaker may decide that it is not expedient to engage an entire caucus on this matter but he can single out the person who read the press statement and cite him for contempt, particularly when they are imputing improper motives.”
He said sanctions could range from rendering an apology all the way to suspension from the House for a number of days.
Issues raised by Minority
Commenting on the allegation that the Speaker was guilty of double standards and that as Chairman of the Appointments Committee a few years ago he had refused to suspend the appearance of Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni before the committee when the issues on which he was being questioned was before a court of law, Dr Kunbuor said nothing prevented a Speaker from giving a ruling contrary to one given earlier by him.
“We have seen high court judges take a particular legal position and later depart from it when they think their own position can no longer be sustained. And so we would want this to be the current position. I do not see what is technically wrong with it. If a Speaker gives a ruling, we must look at the particular context,” he said.
The ruling in respect of Mumuni, he said, was in relation to the Public Appointments Committee, adding that the ruling did not prevent the matter from coming to the plenary.
If it came to the plenary and the members were in disagreement, according to Dr Kunbuor, they could have rejected the report of the committee.
“They are just mixing apples and oranges in this particular matter,” he said.
On the other issue of Mr Adjaho, as First Deputy Speaker stating that “Parliament is the master of its own procedures” and, therefore, “cannot allow itself to be gagged by what happens at the courts” when he was unsuccessfully prevailed upon to suspend the debate on the creation of the 45 new constituencies because the matter was before court, Dr Kunbuor said the context was completely different.