Parliament reconvenes amidst fears of “shut down”

The sixth Parliament of the Fourth Republic will reconvene today after a three-month recess amidst concerns by some Members of Parliament (MPs), especially those from the Minority that the third meeting of the House could be affected by the ‘no money’ syndrome associated with Mahama’s administration.

The third meeting was supposed to have commenced last week, but the date was postponed to today, October 29 by the leadership of the house.

The rationale behind the postponement of the date could not be established by DAILY GUIDE, but the assurance by the speaker that the chamber would undergo re-configuration and refurbishment could not materialize.

A firm assurance was given by the leadership before the House went on the three-month long break that by the time it reconvenes the chamber would have been reconfigured to make ample room for the accommodation of the 45 extra MPs after new 45 constituencies were created before the 2012 general elections.

The previous 230-member house is now accommodating 275 members with members now ‘struggling’ for space.

It is unclear whether the ‘no money’ syndrome had affected the reconfiguration of the chamber as promised by the leadership before the house went on break on July 19.

Workers of Parliament had planned to stage a sit-down strike today to protest against their ‘poor’ conditions of service, which would have affected the reconvening of Parliament.

However, on Friday, the administration of the Parliamentary Service held a meeting with staff over their demand for improved conditions of service and also to assure them of the preparedness of the administration to meet their demands to avoid any strike action, which would definitely affect the work of Ghana’s Parliament if nothing was done about it.

The emergency meeting on Friday was to brief the staff on the progress made so far in the development and implementation of the parliamentary service pay policy which is different from the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS).

DAILY GUIDE gathered on Friday that feverish preparations were being made to welcome the 275 members of parliament back from recess.

The foyer of the house was undergoing major cleaning at the time of visit. The foyer looks spick and span except that the old ‘tattered’ furniture of the place could not be replaced.

MPs have consistently called for replacement of the ‘tattered’ furniture to befit the status of Parliament.

Meanwhile, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Kwesimintsim in the Western region, Joe Baidoe-Ansah, has called on the leadership of the house to make sure that $24.5 million approved by Parliament during the emergency recall for the completion of work on the Job 600 and also for furnishing of the Job 600 is put to good use.

He suggested that the contract for the furnishing of the Job 600 and parliament as a whole should be given to local contractors and artisans to help create jobs in the country to boost what he described as the ‘ailing’ economy.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE on Friday in Parliament House, Hon. Baidoe-Ansah said, “It would be very wrong for us as the people’s representatives to give money we have secured for ourselves to foreigners to furnish our offices,” he indicated, stressing that the time has come for MPs to show great appreciation to local artisans or Ghanaians, who voted them into parliament.

“Let’s exhibit our Ghanaianess and furnish our parliament with furniture and other materials made in Ghana so that Ghanaian businesses will grow and not export from China at the detriment of our own people,” he pointed out.