Speaker cautions MPs against misconduct

The speaker of parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, has cautioned Members of Parliament (MPs) against misconduct on the floor of the House, saying bad behaviour dents the image of the legislature.

He said he had almost on a regular basis received messages from  members of the public about the misconduct of MPs in the House, which has brought the image of the House into disrepute.

Mr Adjaho gave the caution when some members of the Majority shouted at the Member for Assin Central, Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, calling him a liar when he was contributing to the debate on the President's State of the Nation Address.

Mr Agyapong had said that he had paid GH¢104,000 as electricity bill in November 2015 for a cold store he operated;  GH¢201,000 in January 2016 and GH¢275,000 in February for the same facility.

 But as he continued with his contribution,  two members from the Majority side shouted: "You are a liar," which brought the Member for Okere,  Mr Dan Kwaku Botwe,  to his feet.

He contended that calling a Member of Parliament a liar was "unparliamentary" and a comment that should not be made by an honourable member on the floor of the House.

The Speaker, who obviously had heard the 'liar" comment by the members from the Majority side, was visibly angry.

Speaker's anger

Mr Adjaho said not too long ago, a Member of Parliament was speaking on his mobile phone while proceedings were ongoing and his picture was taken by an unknown person and put on social media.

He said that MP,  who he did not name, was mistaken for him (Speaker) and added that members of the public then proceeded to state, among other assertions that he did not concentrate on proceedings when he sat in the Speaker's Chair but was always speaking on the phone; hence, his "bogus" rulings on matters in the House.

Mr Adjaho said it was later proven that the person in the picture was not him but by then his name had been dragged in the mud.

He made it clear that he would not tolerate comments such as the ones made by the two unidentified members on the floor of the House and wondered why members could not comport themselves and carry themselves with dignity like the Member for Sekondi, Papa Owusu Ankomah, did.

Agyapong's contribution

Mr Agyapong said contrary to the rosy picture painted about education by the President, all was not well.

To back his claim, he tendered in a letter written to him by the Assin Central District Director of Education soliciting GH¢16,000 from him to use for the preparation of mock exams for students in the district.

He said if a district could not provide GH¢16,000 for mock examinations, the President could not state that all was well in the education sector.

"Even chalk, they do not have," he said.

In the area of energy,  he said companies in the free zones enclave, most of which were foreign, paid lower electricity tariffs compared to indigenous businesses and added that it was tantamount to discrimination against Ghanaian companies in their own land.

 He said outrageous electricity tariffs in recent times made him decide to procure two generators to provide power for the cold store.

"It will be cheaper," he said.

The Assin Central MP said he visited the Assin Fosu Catholic Hospital recently and observed that women who were delivered of babies could not pay their hospital bills implying that the statement made by the President to the effect that giant strides had been made in the health sector could not be true.

Other contributions

The Member for Ketu South,  Mr Fifi Fiavi Kwetey,  said when the President said change was taking place, what he meant was that Ghana was being transformed on a daily basis.

The rehabilitation and expansion of the Tema port, which he said would make it the largest in the West African sub-region, and the expansion of the Tema motorway into a six-lane highway were all part of the change the President was talking about.

 He said on November 7, the people would testify to the positive changes in their lives by endorsing the government.

The Member for Obuasi East, Mr Kwaku Kwarteng, said he had thoroughly glanced through the text the President read and did not come across any explanation for the country's deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

 He said the President had claimed that he had built a resilient economy and added that if that was the case, then the country needed not have gone for a credibility deal with the IMF.

 He said there was corruption, waste and mass unemployment in the country and added that the solution was not to go to the IMF.

"The way to deal with the challenges of the economy is to cut down on the waste and corruption,” he added.

The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations,  Mr Haruna Iddrisu,  said he had had his honour and pride back now that the President had dealt effectively with "adundum adundum."

He said when the President came to Parliament last year and promised to address the energy problems of the country,  many thought he could not fix it.

He thanked the President for living up to his word and said not only had he fixed the problem but had also added not less than 500 megawatts to the national energy stock.

The Member for Old Tafo,  Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, with figures to back his claim, said the economic situation in the country had worsened under President Mahama.

He said the country experienced a GDP growth rate of eight per cent in 2008,  but according to recent projections, the growth rate for 2016 would be 4.1 per cent.

He said per capita income in 2013 was $1,870, but had decreased by $500.

The debt to GDP ratio of 52.2 per cent which the country experienced a few years ago, he added, had worsened.

All those figures, he said, we're a pointer to the fact that the country's economic plight under the current administration had worsened.