Members of Parliament (MPs) are expected to resume sitting on Tuesday, October 31 after a three-month break.
The MPs went on recess on August 3 and were expected to resume in the third week of October, but the Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, in an interview with TV3 said on Monday October 30, 2023, that due to some assignments that the leadership had to engage in, the resumption date was postponed.
“Initially we thought after the conference (66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference), we were going to be able to reconvene next Tuesday. But later on, we gave ourselves another one week on the 10th or 17th. So that was tentatively what we planned to do. I think something escaped us, what escaped us is the pendency of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference (IPU) in Angola.
“…I think it begins on the 20th and ends on the 26th or so, which then will mean that the earliest time that we can reconvene is the 31st of October. It’s not happened like that before, but because the IPU has for the first time been pushed so much into the third week of October. Usually it’s held in the first week of October and that is why usually we reconvene in the second or beginning the third week of October. That’s the reason why we have to hold on to the 31st of October,” he said.
Members will have several tasks to complete before the Christmas break in December.
One of the major issues according to the Majority Leader, will be the budget statement for the 2024 fiscal year to be presented by the finance minister.
“Certainly it’s going to be the budget, because we are not going to have enough time. Normally, the budget will come around the 15th of November. So, we reconvene a month or so to deal with outstanding businesses, including bills that will have to be done before the budget is presented. Now, 31st we have barely two weeks. It means that we are going to have just about seven weeks or so for the next meeting of Parliament. It’s going to be the shortest. We will then have to crowd many things into that short space of time”.
The Speaker’s Adhoc Committee is set to present its report on the leaked audio tape containing information on alleged plot to oust the Inspector General of Police. The havoc wreaked by the Akosombo and Kpong dams spillage will definitely be brought to the house’s attention and the Speaker is likely to give some directives.
Some MPs have stated that some officials at the Volta River Authority have questions to answer.
Another issue that may be raised on the floor of Parliament may be the Minority caucus and its demands for the removal of the governor of the Bank of Ghana and his two deputies, but the Majority leader has given hints of what his side will do on this matter.
“We could have invited the governor to come and explain matters that are not clear to us. But you go on demonstration, you organise a press conference against them and then you come back to Parliament to move a motion and you want me to support that?”
This meeting of Parliament though, according to the Majority Leader, is going to be a very short one, a lot is expected to be handled by the House.
Aside the matters mentioned above, there are some outstanding bills to be worked on. Such as the Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values bill also known as the anti-gay bill, loans, tax waivers, instruments may also be presented. Ministers will be scheduled to answer questions on the floor, as well as the Speaker may admit statements and motions for debate.
And all these may have to be done before members rise again for the Christmas break in December.