NDC MPs proposed siren privileges – Annoh-Dompreh

The Majority Chief Whip and MP for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, has chastised the Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson, for displaying acts of cowardice and hypocrisy by not owning up to a proposal the NDC MPs included in the Road Traffic (Amendment) Regulations for consideration and approval by Parliament.

The new Legislative Instrument had included a provision granting certain public officials, including Ministers of State and the 275 Members of Parliament (MPs), the privilege to use sirens on the road and not be liable for exceeding speed limits.

The intention of the government for introducing that amendment in the Legislative Instrument was to include the Vice-President, the Speaker of Parliament and the Head of the Judiciary Service who were not originally captured in those privileges as captured in the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (LI 2180).

However, the NDC MPs on the Subsidiary Legislation Committee led by Dominic Ayine, insisted that if MPs were not included in those privileges, they would not participate in the consideration and passage of the Amended Legislative Instrument.

In view of this, when the Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah resisted those efforts made by the Minority NDC MPs, they even delayed the laying of the Amended Legislative Instrument for over two months until consensus was made to include their proposal.

Following the laying of the Amended Legislative Instrument by the government through the Ministry of Transport on Monday, July 14, 2024, the inclusion of the 275 Members of Parliament received a public backlash with vehemence.

This has compelled the Minority NDC MPs to hurriedly release a press statement signed by its leader, Cassiel Ato Forson, calling for its immediate withdrawal.

However, in an interview with the Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh on Tuesday, July 15, 2024, he expressed shock that the Minority through its Leader, Ato Forson, is not owning up to the proposal they made in the Legislative Instrument at the Committee level.

“I was rudely shocked when I saw that statement. Even though from my sources, it appears to be a personal statement he had issued. Members of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee were engaged extensively by the Minister of Transport because he wanted to pick their views on the Amended Legislative Instrument”, he noted.

He added “In the 2012 L.I. the Vice-President doesn’t have a provision, the Chief Justice and the Speaker of Parliament were all not included in those privileges. And for that matter, the Transport Minister intended to include the Vice-President, Speaker of Parliament and the Chief Justice. Then there was a strong suggestion led by the Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee, Hon. Dominic Ayine who insisted that the Members of Parliament be captured in the L.I. But the Transport Minister resisted it. But the Minority NDC MPs made it a condition else they won’t participate”.

He said it was after the proposal to include Members of Parliament that were captured in the Amended L.I. that the Minority gave the green light for it to be laid.

Nevertheless, Annoh-Dompreh noted that the Ministry of Transport has withdrawn the Amended Legislative Instrument for further consultations.

Hon Frank Annoh-Dompreh further noted that the behaviour and the attitude of the Minority Leader, Hon Ato Forson, for feigning piety after the huge public uproar is what baffles him, creating the impression that the NDC MPs had no hand in it.