Although several attempts have been made to draw Members of Parliament to the chamber on time, the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Michael Aaron Ocquaye, has condemned the lateness of Members of Parliament to work.
Expressing his sentiment in the House, the Speaker indicated that late attendance affects the smooth flow of business in the House.
Following the late start of proceedings this week due to few members being present at the chamber, some ministers were not able to answer questions posed by some MPs.
The Minister for Education, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, who was scheduled to respond to some questions on the educational infrastructure in some constituencies, was present to brief the House but PMs were not available as at 10:00am.
Business in the House started an hour and a half later and the substantive Education Minister was not available to answer the questions. He was represented by the Deputy Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Adu-Twum for the briefing.
The Speaker cautioned that the Deputy Education Minister was not the appropriate person to answer the questions but the Majority Leader, Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu indicated that Dr. Prempeh had to leave for the Jubilee House to attend a Cabinet meeting, and that Dr. Adu-Twum was standing in for him.
Before granting Dr Adu-Twum the opportunity to answer the questions, Prof. Ocquaye said it was not in the interest of mother Ghana for a minister to wait for two hours to answer questions.
He therefore, urged the MPs to abide by the official time of starting proceedings in the House.
Meanwhile, the consistent lateness of members to the chamber sparked the anger in some MPs from the minority side last month who threatened to take action if MPs continue to report late to the chamber.
The Minority caucus has constantly criticised the Majority for leaving parliamentary business and engaging in other activities, which will not inure to the benefit of Parliament.
Source: GhanaJustice/S.Ayisi
