The Minority in Parliament has dismissed assertion Speaker of the House and the leadership are not yet ready for the delivery of the State of the Nation Address (SONA).
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was expected to deliver the 2022 SONA in Parliament late February but was postponed to early March. That date has also since been postponed indefinitely.
The Majority has claimed Parliament is yet to communicate an appropriate date to the President to attend on House for the presentation.
The Minority has, however, distanced itself from this explanation and Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzi, has insisted President Akufo-Addo is rather not making himself available to the house for the presentation.
Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has argued President Akufo-Addo is not to be blamed for the delay in the presentation and suggested the absence of Speaker Alban Bagbin from the jurisdiction could be attributed to the postponement of the SONA.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Citi Fm, James Klutse Avedzi maintained the reasons offered by the Majority are unsatisfactory.
“[I am not satisfied at all with the explanation from the Deputy Majority leader.] It was the President who said he cannot come on March 3 because it was close to the 6th March celebrations. So we were waiting for the President for the new date so we can factor it into our programs. So what the Deputy Majority leader is saying is actually not the case.”
“The Speaker was scheduled for his medical review, but because of the State of the Nation Address, he has rescheduled it two times until the President said he cannot make it. So the Speaker had to go for his medical review. So it’s about the availability of the President to determine the date so If the President is not available for us to fix the date, nobody should be blamed rather the President should take the pain and say he wasn’t available”, he added.
Article 67 of the Constitution mandates the President to present the address to Parliament at the beginning of each session of the lawmaking body and before the dissolution of the house.
The address sets out the government’s key policy objectives and deliverables for the year ahead. It will give President Akufo-Addo the opportunity to highlight the achievements of his government, challenges faced, and also outline developmental measures for the coming financial year.
The Minority in Parliament has in the last few weeks been mounting pressure on the leadership of Parliament to ensure that the president attends to the house to deliver his address.
The Member of Parliament for Juaboso, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, last week insisted that the president had “no good news” for Ghanaians; hence the delay in making the presentation.
“We don’t even know when he is coming to address the House. Except that he has no good news to tell the nation because if he has good news to tell Ghanaians he would have been in a hurry to deliver the address.”
Source: MyPublisher24.com
