Minority charges Government to present handing over notes

The Minority in Parliament says it will no longer participate in any government business until the House is given copies of the handing over notes of the outgoing government.

Minority leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu says without the document it is difficult for Parliament to decide which business to transact and which not to.  

By the new Transition law, the Executive was expected to hand to Parliament a copy of the handing over notes one month to the elections. They were supposed to do same to the Administrator General.

At a press conference Thursday, the Minority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu is alleging that the Executive has failed to give the handing over notes to the Legislature.

According to him, he has checked with the Clerk of Parliament, who is the custodian of all documents in the House and she confirms the handing over notes have not been brought to Parliament.

He said when he confronted the Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho belatedly promised to follow up on getting the handing over notes.

He then wondered how the Minority will be invited to take part in the business of the house when it does not know what is in the handing over notes.

Mr Kyei Mensah Bonsu explained the handing over notes should have come with projections of what the government intended to do from the day it handed over the notes, to the 7th of January, the day it will officially hand over power completely to the incoming administration.

In the absence of the notes, he said the Minority cannot tell what the government has set itself to do during the period of the transition.

He lamented what he said was the latter day recruitment exercise by the executive and other state institutions, recruitments which have not been budgeted for in the budget statement the John Mahama administration presented to Parliament for the first quarter of 2017.

He wondered how the outgoing government expects the incoming administration to pay the salaries of the new personnel it is recruiting.

Media reports suggest there are ongoing recruitments in the Army, Immigration, etc at a time the NDC administration is bowing out, something members of the transition team of the incoming administration have not been happy about.

Mensah Bonsu said the Minority will only be part of the business of the house for the few days remaining if it is furnished with handing over notes and the projections.

He also debunked assertion that the Minority is sabotaging the passage of the Right to Information Bill by the Adjaho led Parliament.

He argued, the Minority throughout every stage of the process has shown more commitment to have the bill passed into law.

He said just before Parliament rose, the Bill was withdrawn for a re-sanitization and they hope the controversial clauses will be looked at before the Bill will be passed into law.

Joy News' Parliamentary correspondent Elton John Brobbey says the leadership of Parliament is meeting over the matter to find an amicable solution to the impasse.