By Clement Akoloh
Accra, August 26, 2026 — The Minority Caucus in Parliament has challenged the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) to hand over the management of government business to the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, if it is unable to get its legislative agenda through Parliament.
The challenge was issued on Wednesday by the Minority during a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing five-day emergency sitting of Parliament.
Addressing the media, the Member of Parliament for Walewale, Hon. Kabiru Tia Mahama, accused the Majority of wasting valuable parliamentary time, arguing that three of the five days allocated for the emergency recall had already been lost without meaningful business being transacted.
According to him, the circumstances surrounding the recall created the impression that Parliament was being summoned to deal with matters requiring urgent attention, but the proceedings so far had not justified the decision to bring Members back from recess.
He said the governing party had failed to demonstrate the seriousness required to conduct government business on the Floor of the House.
“We have wasted about 75 percent of the scheduled time for this emergency sitting without any meaningful business before the House,” he said.
He therefore challenged the NDC to consider handing over the responsibility for managing government business to the opposition if it could not effectively organise its legislative programme.
The five-day emergency sitting was convened following a request by President John Dramani Mahama for Parliament to return from its recess to consider urgent government business.
In his opening remarks, the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, indicated that he would permit the House to consider only three categories of business contained in the President’s request.
These included the **Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (Amendment) Bill, 2026**, the vetting of recently nominated Ministers, and the consideration of nominees for appointment to the Supreme Court.
The Minority, however, maintains that the pace of parliamentary business has fallen short of what would be expected from an emergency recall, particularly given the limited number of days available to the House.
The Majority’s response sets the stage for further exchanges between the two sides as Parliament enters the final stretch of the emergency sitting.
With only two days remaining, attention is now focused on whether the House will be able to complete the outstanding government business for which it was recalled from recess or whether the emergency sitting will end with the Minority’s criticism becoming a major political issue.
The controversy also comes against the backdrop of heightened political attention on the government’s legislative programme, with the ability of the Majority to marshal business through the House increasingly becoming a measure of its effectiveness in managing the affairs of government.
Source: parliamentnews360.com
