The Speaker of the 8th Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin, has urged Members of the Ghanaian Parliament to prepare for long sitting hours to work for the country since there is no rest for a Member of Parliament.
“There is no rest for an MP. This meeting promises to be very busy. Apart from seeing to an early passage of the new Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana, the House is expected to consider and pass into law a number of important Bills,” he said.
Some of these important Bills he referred to include the Petroleum Revenue Management Amendment Bill 2021; the Supplementary Appropriation Bill 2021; the Exemptions Bill 2021; and a number of Private Members Bill, as the House anxiously awaits the presentation of the all-important Affirmative Action Bill.
The Speaker made the comment during his welcome address on the Floor of Parliament on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 after the House returned from a 12-week recess which begun from March 30, 2021 to May 25, 2021.
According to Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Bagbin, the nature of the work ahead of the Parliament in this meeting requires that the MPs work extra hard to meet the target.
“The latest information has it that the Affirmative Action Bill is before Cabinet. Some Private Members Motions, in fact we have a lot of them, and international agreements, treaties and conventions also awaits the consideration of the House. I can only urge members to psych up and prepare for hard work and long sitting hours,” he said.
The Speaker’s position was supported by the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, when he also used the occasion to welcome back the Members of Parliament in his opening remarks at the first sitting of the second meeting of the First Session of the Eight Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.
According to him, the House was supposed to resume sitting some two weeks earlier. However, the date was adjusted in order to accommodate the celebration of Ramadan and some important assignment the Leadership of Parliament ought to undertake. This has shortened the sittings in this meeting which is expected to rise sine die on August 6, 2021.
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu on his part, appealed to religious leaders in the country to be circumspect in their utterance and actions in order not to jeopardize the country’s reputation as an oasis of peaceful coexistence and religious tolerance in the sub-region.
He said, there were some unfortunate incidences in the country which threatened the peace and cohesion of the country when Parliament was on recess which emanated from some section of the country’s religious leaders. He emphasized that Article 21 of the Ghanaian constitution guarantees the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and believe.
Source: Clement Akoloh||parliamentnews360.com
