New chamber for MPs needless – Professor Kweku Asare

Ghana is broke and so it will be needless to construct a new chamber for Members of Parliament following the ripping off of the roof of Parliament House on Tuesday night, Professor Kweku Asare, a US-based Ghanaian lecturer has said.

His comment follows an appeal by the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye, to the government to construct a new chamber for the House.

His appeal follows damages caused in the chamber after the rainstorm on Tuesday January 31. The heavy rains revealed leakages in the roof of parliament as portions of the floor got soaked. The leakages disrupted parliamentary business and forced the house to defer sitting. The rains soaked the carpet in the chamber and also messed up seats in the house.

Briefing the press during the visit of the vice president, the Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye, said: “Having heard the problem here, the first thing this morning, he (Dr Bawumia) came to examine the situation. We are told that all relevant persons are in the process of [repairing] the damage and even applying some interim plastic sheets to make us work and you can see our members from both sides are ready to work.

“We need a new chamber and we trust that at the appropriate time, we shall have the ears of the executives.”

But Professor Asare said constructing a new chamber should not be priority for the government because there is no money.

He wrote on his Facebook page: “I am against constructing a new Chamber for the Legislature. We are too broke to be even thinking about such things.”