The Majority in Parliament has
rejected a move by the Minority to
investigate Ghana’s abysmal
performance at the just-ended FIFA
World Cup tournament in Brazil.
By a vote of 96 to 78, the
majority dismissed a Private
Member’s Motion that sought the
creation of a Parliamentary Special
Committee to investigate Ghana’s
preparation and participation in the
competition and issues arising from
the country’s involvement in the
event.
Amid dramatic scenes and the usual
partisan banter, there was relief for
the Majority side, when after a heated
debate, the Speaker of Parliament
Edward Doe Adjaho, called for a head
count to enable the House to take a
decision, after an inconclusive voice
vote.
But before then, the Speaker
registered his displeasure at an
attempt by the Executive to stay the
hand of the legislature in carrying out
their constitutional mandate.
The Speaker was incensed that
government issued a Constitutional
Instrument (CI82) on Friday July 11,
constituting a Commission of inquiry
to look into the senior national
football team, the Black Stars,
participation in the soccer fiesta.
Mr Adjaho said, government by that
action, had showed “bad faith” and
that that move amounted to an
attempt to interfere in the workings of
Parliament which is prohibited by
law.
He noted that Parliament was an
independent entity that had the
backing of the law to inquire into any
national issue, adding that, the
Legislature was the master of its own
rules.
Mr Adjaho was displeased by the way
government hurriedly issued and
gazetted the CI82 over the weekend,
when the Private Member’s motion
should have been moved last Friday,
but postponed for further
consultation between both sides of
the House.
The Minority Spokesperson on Youth,
Sports and Culture, Isaac Kwame
Asiamah last week filed a motion
requesting the House to set up a
bipartisan Parliamentary Committee
to investigate events and activities
before, during and after Ghana’s
preparation and participation in Brazil
2014.
However, the Chairman of the
Parliamentary Select Committee on
Youth and Sports, Mr. Kobena
Mensah Woyome, sought an
amendment of the motion by
requesting the Ministry of Youth and
Sports to submit its report on the
administrative inquiry into the Black
Stars participation in the FIFA World
Cup 2014 tournament in Brazil after
completion of its work, for Parliament
to set up an Ad Hoc Committee to
look into the findings to make
informed decisions.
The newly appointed Youth and
Sports Minister, Mr Mahama Ayariga,
who rose to support the proposed
amendment by Mr Woyome, quoted
Article (278) of the 1992 Constitution
to prop his argument and insisted
that, that intervention gave the
President the right to set up a
Committee of Enquiry, drawing the
Speaker’s attention to (CI) 82,
seeking the House to stay action on
setting up a parallel investigative
committee on the matter.
“To sustain the objection of the
motion will be bad faith,” the Speaker
stated.
“If the motion had been moved on
Friday, would there have been a CI
82?
“This is a House of debate. Whether
the House decides to set up a
committee to look into the matter is
for the House to decide.
“This is a matter that Ghanaians are
interested in. If the House decides to
go into it, let them go ahead and
decide so. If they (Parliament) think
they would not go into it, it is for the
House to decide”
Referring to the CI82, the Speaker
said he was shocked when a copy of
the Constitutional Instrument was
passed onto him by the Table Office
before proceedings of the House on
Monday.
“I was shocked because we all agreed
last week that this motion should be
taken today……..Honourable members,
we should be careful about the
governance of this country and
whatever we do should capture the
mood of the country”
“I thought that for once this House
will speak with one voice on this
matter”, the Speaker said.
He reminded Mr. Ayariga, who is the
MP for Bawku Central that Parliament
was a master of its own rules,
advising the member to seek redress
elsewhere.
Papa Owusu Ankomah, MP for
Sekondi, told the House that he was
pained by the move by the
Executive’s introduction of the CI 82
to Parliament because it was a
deliberate attempt to suppress the
powers of the Legislature by stifling
debate in the House.
He said that under no condition
should an arm of government be
subservient to another arm, insisting
in very strong terms that Parliament
should not entertain infringements on its powers.
The motion was subsequently
rejected.
Source: GNA
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