The incoming Majority Leader in Ghana’s Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu is dissatisfied with what he believes is the failure of the sixth Parliament of the fourth republic to ensure due diligence in the passage of some bills, loans and international agreements.
Mr. Mensah Bonsu believes though “a good number of bills” have been passed in the past four years, the alacrity involved in the passage of bills and the approval of some loans and international agreements “were not the best as it left little space for Parliament to do proper due diligence.” He made the submission in his closing remarks ahead of the termination of sittings of Parliament, expected to take place in a few hours.
Parliament fails to pass RTI , Plant Breeders bill
The 6th Parliament of the 4th Republic has failed to pass some key bills including the Right to Information Bill, the Plant Breeders Bill and Intestate Succession Bill.
President John Dramani Mahama in his last state of the nation address, had appealed to the House to consider passing the Bill into law, while addressing the legislature on Thursday – a move the minority kicked against.
The Majority leader, Alban Bagbin, in his final address on the floor of the house before dissolution, described as “unfortunate” the house’s inability to pass the bills which he says were important.
As the House prepares to be dissolved by midnight today [Friday], it will be unable to further work on the RTI Bill until it is brought back to the new Parliament by the incoming government.
“It is important to mention that, the house unfortunately could not pass certain important bills that were submitted to the house.
I say it was unfortunate because of their likely impact on the rights to freedoms of very important segments of our society and also the impact on our drive as a country to combat corruption,” Mr Bagbin said. Other key bills the house failed to pass during its existence was the Properties rights of Spouses bill, Lotto and lotteries bill, Interception of postal packets among others.
Gratitude to Speaker
Mr. Osei Kyei Mensah also extended his gratitude to the Speaker and his deputies, saying “Mr Speaker may I take this opportunity to extend my felicitations to you and your deputies for the manner in which the affairs of this House have been steered.”
He believes there was “consensus and even unanimity around most businesses that were transacted in the house” except for a few occasions that parliamentarians, “disagreed.”
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