Minority asks for time to study Govt/Vodafone GT agreement

Accra, Aug. 13, GNA-Parliament on the second day of its special sitting on Wednesday adjourned again to the next day, the debate on the motion and ratification of the proposed $900 million sale and purchase agreement of the Ghana Telecommunication Company between the Ghana Government and the Vodafone International Holdings BV.

Sitting began rather late after 1300 hours, instead of the normal 1000 hours.

After 1410 hours when the debate on the motion on the telecom deal was about to begin, Mr Doe Adjaho, Deputy Leader of Minority, prayed the Speaker for adjournment.

He explained that the sale and purchase agreement was a matter of public concern and the House had to adjourn to allow Members enough time to study the original sale and purchase agreement and the Report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Communication on the deal between Government of Ghana and Vodafone, which had just been laid before the House.

Mr. Mahama Ayariga, NDC-Bawku Central, at the beginning of the sitting, when the paper on the deal was laid before the House, said only the 25 members the Committee, out of the 230 Member Legislature had got copies of the agreement on the proposed transaction.

He said it would be "procedurally irregular" for the paper to be laid without the agreement, and called for the rejection of the Report, to which the Speaker Mr Ebenezer Hughes responded "this is not the time to talk about rejecting the report."

The Speaker explained later that the House had not yet come to the debate on the motion yet for the Report to be rejected.

Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Abraham Ossei Aidooh, said he had just picked a copy of the agreement himself.

The Report of the Joint Committee on Finance and Mines and Energy on the Credit Facility Agreement between the Government of Ghana and Caylon Credit Agricole Bank of France for an amount of 85 million euros for the Network Expansion and Loss Reduction Project of the Electricity Company of Ghana, as well as other reports for agreements on energy and road infrastructure were laid.