The Speaker of Parliament has issued a terse warning to the Minister of Transport, Mr. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, never to attempt to decide how the House should conduct its business again.
Such conduct from the Minister in the future, he said, will be referred to the Privileges Committee.
Speaker Alban S.K. Bagbin gave the warning on Tuesday 21st June, 2022 in Parliament during question time when the Transport Minister failed to appear before the House to answer questions.
Chief Director of the Ministry, through a letter, informed plenary the Minister was unavoidably absent and could therefore not be present to answer the questions.
He requested for the questions to be rescheduled for Thursday 23rd June, 2022.
The Speaker, however, expressed displeasure at the ‘request’ and stressed the decision as to when Ministers are scheduled to appear to answer questions is not for Ministers but for the House and the Speaker.
The Transport Minister’s request, the Speaker said, constitutes contempt of Parliament and the conduct could be referred to the Privileges Committee.
He referred members to the 1992 Constitution, Article 122, “An act or omission which obstructs or impedes Parliament in the performance of its functions or which obstructs or impedes a member or officer of Parliament in the discharge of his duties, or affronts the dignity of Parliament or which tends either directly or indirectly to produce that result, is contempt of Parliament.”
This provision has also been captured in Parliament’s Standing Orders as Order 28, “An act or omission which obstructs or impedes Parliament in the performance of its functions or which obstructs or impedes a Member or officer of Parliament in the discharge of his duties or affronts the dignity of Parliament or which tends either directly or indirectly to produce such a result shall be contempt of Parliament.”
The Speaker acknowledged the Transport Minister as one of the few who used to be very punctual in responding to questions in the House but stressed lately his conduct is negating all the gains he made in the house.
He said, “I am tempted to refer his conduct to the Privileges Committee but because of the intervention of leadership, I will resist that temptation today but the next conduct tantamount to this behaviour will be referred to the Privileges Committee.”
“I will not accept his request that the questions are rescheduled for Thursday. I’ll refer the questions back to the Business Committee to reschedule them at the appropriate date for him to answer.”
“I will excuse him for today but give him notice that this house will no longer entertain that kind of behaviour,” he added.
Minority Whip Hon. Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak had earlier protested the absence of the Transport Minister during question time and argued questions are transmitted to Minister long before they are scheduled.
According to him, the Transport Minister had prior knowledge of the questions and to therefore send an excuse on the morning he is expected to answer is not good enough.
He warned that such behaviour if not dealt with expeditiously will continue to weaken the House in its oversight duty and appealed to the Speaker to give a ‘strong wording’ to the Minister.
Majority Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh agreed with the remarks of his colleague but said all Ministers should not be boxed together and that those who engage in such conduct should be named and shamed.
He argued Ministers should not bring their notice of absence on the same day they are supposed to appear before the House and stressed that is totally unacceptable.
He promised to reach out to the Minister and pleaded with the House to give him the benefit of the doubt because of his past diligence and re-programme him as soon as possible.