Following the failure of the Food and Agriculture Minister to appear before Parliament, Minority Chief Whip, Mr. Muntaka Mubarak Mohammed has stated that, Dr. Akoto Afriyie is fond of sending his Deputies to Parliament to answer questions. In his statement, he indicated that there are some vital issues which ought to be answered by the minister himself on the floor of Parliament, and not his deputies.
According to the Chief Whip, it should have been communicated earlier to the Speaker that the minister could not make it to the House and failure to inform him earlier is a sign of disrespect.
He reiterated that “he is always sending his deputies to answer questions on the floor of the House, as a similar situation was witnessed at the last meeting where three questions were unanswered. We would plead that the Majority would respect the Speaker and the office he occupies”.
Mr. Mubarak Muntaka further said he knows the difficulties the Speaker is having because he was not informed ahead of time that the Food and Agriculture Minister would not be on the floor to answer questions but only got to know after he failed to appear.
The Speaker of Parliament also pointed out that the standing orders of the House allows Ministers to be compelled to appear and respond to questions or any other matter that the House considers relevant.
In contrast, Chairman of the Finance Committee, Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah has indicated that the Minority Chief Whip was wrong in saying that the Food and Agriculture Minister should be hauled before the house.
Source: GhanaJustice/S.Ayisi
