Minority would’ve been humiliated if they had dragged Speaker to Supreme Court - Majority Leader

Ghana’s majority leader in Parliament, Mr. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has suggested the minority in parliament’s decision to drag the Speaker to the Supreme Court over his decision to suspend the House indefinitely recently would have thrown out.

The Minority had threatened to drag the Speaker to the apex court because they described his action as illegal because they claimed he [Speaker] was supposed to adjourn the House instead.

Speaking to the Media a few weeks ago, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said they were considering legal action against the Speaker.

“Professor Mike Oquaye, I’m sorry, has become walking illegality and a threat to parliamentary democracy in Ghana. We will consider measuring and questioning his conduct by the standing orders and by the Superior Court of Ghana, we will let our lawyers study it carefully especially you’ve seen him, the Speaker carry the mace behind him when the House was suspended, I’m sure we should have stopped him to tell him that the mace during suspension remains there…”

But reacting to the issue, the Majority Leader said the Minority would be humiliated if they had dragged the Speaker to the Supreme Court.

He explained to host of Frontline Kwabena Agyapong on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm that what the Speaker did was in recognition of the fact that the whole nation is in a state of emergency and it was important that the House acts in a manner that will bring utmost benefit to the welfare of Ghanaians.

He said because we are not in normal times, the House could be recalled at any time.

The decision he touted has achieved a lot of positive results.

He singled out the approval given by parliament to waive taxes and duties of $23.98 million for Platinum Properties Limited, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) owned and controlled by Inter-Afrique Holding Limited and the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF).

The amount translates into about GH¢134 million.

The approval will allow the entity to enjoy tax rebates on import duties, Value Added Tax (VAT), National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL), GETFund levy on all its imports, domestic VAT, domestic NHIL and domestic GETFund levy on materials, plant and machinery and equipment to be procured by the company.

The materials are to be used by Platinum Properties for the Pullman Accra City Hotel and Serviced Apartments, a dual hospitality project that will become Ghana’s largest and most distinguished hotel facility.

He also made mention of the GH¢288.64 million tax waiver for healthcare workers to encourage them to put their best in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

These approvals by parliament he argued points to the fact that the decision by the Speaker was a good one.

According to him, the Minority later agreed that the erred in attacking the Speaker.