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General News of Friday, March 22, 2019
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2019-03-22
Professor Mike Oquaye
One of the main officials of the specialized research company in Parliament, Odekro, said that punitive measures were needed to combat the phenomenon of absenteeism among deputies.
Ernest Nii Ashitey Armah said: "They are curious to see that the deputies to whom the voters have invested power and spend resources – act as they wish when they have to make sure that things are done well.
"If I were to be in the president's shoes, I would have cracked the bad," he told Evans Mensah on Thursday.
His comment follows the warning from the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Ocquaye, to the members of the House, to take the sitting of the House seriously.
It was after the House recorded low figures on the ground as the meeting began around 10:15 am on Thursday.
At the beginning of the meeting, only about 15 members were present, which forced Professor Ocquaye to tell the deputies that it was necessary to give priority to the plenary before anything else.
Even if there were to be committee meetings that could have removed members of the House, none of those meetings were in session at 10 am at the beginning of the meeting.
The Mining and Energy Committee was supposed to meet at 1 pm to discuss NEDCO's performance.
In addition, the Employment and Social Affairs Committee was scheduled to meet at 11.30 am, as well as the Special Budget Committee, which was to meet with the election commission at 4 pm
According to the Standing Orders of the Parliament, the President may sanction a Member for missing sessions of 14 consecutive days without the authorization of the President.
But the Odekro researcher said Thursday's presence was no worse, as in October 2017, the President had met only four MPs at the beginning of the session.
"It's something that happens regularly and we think it's because they're never punished because people can get away with it."
According to the rules of the House, members must sign the Parliament leave form explaining why they can not go to the House. The latter must be approved by their leaders before the final approval of the President.
This, according to Mr. Ashitey Armah, is not respected, resulting in an increase in absenteeism.
For his part, Alexander Abban, vice chairman of the Committee on Constitutional and Constitutional Affairs of the Parliament, said that absenteeism was explained by the fact that a large number of deputies divided the party. ;Warning.
"This is a persistent problem and we may need to look at the process and the people we bring to parliament. It seems to me that in Ghana, career politicians are not called so.
"We seem to have business people who are coming to a certain point and see coming to Parliament as a way to be realized and not necessarily doing the job. So, we must even look at the grooming process, "he said.
Mr. Abban believes that people with money should simply not be allowed to sit in the House without contributing to the legislative process as legislators.
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