Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) General Secretary, has been nominated to the Parliamentary Service Council, which is headed by Speaker Alban Kingsford Bagbin.
Mr. Cyril Nsiah, Clerk of Parliament, Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, Minority Leader, and Mr. Abraham Osei Aiddoo, former Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for Tema West, are the other participants.
In response to Mr Nketiah’s involvement on the Board, the Speaker pointed out that Mr Hackman Owusu Agyeman, former Chairman of the New Patriotic Party’s Council of Elders, was a member of the previous Parliamentary Service Team.
He described it as an effort by a member of a political party to intervene with Parliament’s governance, adding, “What is good for the goose is good for the gander.”
The Parliamentary Service Council, which is made up of the Speaker as chairman, four other members named by the Speaker on the recommendation of a Committee of Parliament, and the Clerk of Parliament, oversees the Parliamentary Service.
The Board is in charge of supporting the health of Members of Parliament and Service workers. In regulatory issues, it also has general influence over the Service’s administration.
Ahmed Ibrahim, the Deputy Minority Chief Whip and MP for Banda, addressed the question of the pause in the selection of the four members of the Board, apart from the Speaker and the Clerk of Parliament, at the start of the House’s proceedings on Monday.
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He questioned whether the House, which had oversight authority over the Executive, had the legal obligation to question that arm of government if it had already hesitated in nominating a board.
The non-appointment of the commission, according to the Banda MP, culminated in a constitutional violation.
Mr. Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the Majority Chief Whip, complied with the demands and promised that the leadership will meet as soon as possible to settle the issue.
Mr Mahama Ayariga, the Ranking Member on the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee and Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, said the board’s absence was impacting the House’s function since new entrants to the Parliamentary Service could not be signed on without the board after their interview, and procurement of products and services was also impaired.
In response, the Speaker said that the legislative committee established to advise him on the selection of representatives to the Board of Directors had been slow in their work and that the appointment should be made in compliance with the committee’s advice.
SOURCE: ATLFMONLINE
