Accra (The Statesman) - Parliament resumed last Tuesday after the Easter recess. Remarkably, many of the Parliamentarians have returned to work in high spirits, exhibiting a well-being perhaps only surpassed by a lady who won ?100 million on 5/39 Fortune last week.
And the source of contentment is the fleet of spanking brand new Honda CR-V vehicles at the Car Park, acquired through government guaranteed loans. One notable absentee is a brand new Nissan Terran ordered by the Member for the disputed Wulensi seat, Samuel Nyimakan. The Court of Appeal recently threw out his appeal against a High Court ruling that he should vacate the Wulensi seat.
Besides, all others who have not yet received there are expected to get them by next month. Marques ordered include, Nissan Terrano, BMW, Volvo, BVW Passat and Grand Cherokee.
It will be recalled that when a national daily reported that MPs were to receive $20.000 from the government to purchase motor vehicles, without adding that the amounts involved were actually loans, the public went beserk, condemning the legislature for being inconsiderate. The President responded by suspending the loan.
The Statesman has been reliably informed that the MP for Wulensi?s further application to the Supreme Court was motivated mainly by his desire to benefit from the car loan before leaving the House, by exploiting the appeal provision in the legal system.
The car loan is given to an individual MP and losing his seat affects neither his contractual responsibility to service neither the loan nor his bona fide ownership of the vehicle. The source said the leadership of the House, realising that it could not endorse the car loan while the Supreme Court is yet to give its ruling on the status of the Wulensi MP, directed Auto Parts Ghana Ltd., the Nissan dealers and one of the suppliers of the cars to MPs, to suspend the contract
According to Parliamentary sources, the leadership informed Auto Parts that Parliament would not be held responsible if Nymakan takes the car and payment becomes a problem.
As part of the condition for the car loan, an amount of ?1.2 million is being deducted from the salaries of the MPs every month. It is, however, not yet clear if ministers who are MPs would benefit from the loan. There are strong arguments in their favour. A Parliamentary source argued that since their official cars cannot be used for political programmes in line with the government?s zero tolerance for corruption policy, it will be wrong to prevent them access to the loans, as well.
Nyimakan?s fate would be known after the Supreme Court ruling. A search at the Supreme Court revealed that the case is yet to be listed. On 12 April the Court of Appeal presided by Justice (Mrs) Georgina Wood unanimously dismissed an appeal filed by Nyimakan which sough to overturn Justice Aninakwa?s decision of the Tamale High Court on the 2000 Parliamentary election, in the Wulensi Constituency.
An application had been filed in the High Court by Fuseini Zakaria, which stated that Nyimakan had breached the electoral law. Zakaria had accused the MP of violating the residency rule. It has been held that Nyimakan does not hail from any part of the constituency and has no record of residency whatsoever in the area as required by law.
Nyimakan, a Konkomba, from Saboba District, in his electoral application form indicated no residential status as requested on the form. Rather, he indicated letter ?X? meaning that it was inapplicable to him.
The electoral rules state that a candidate in a parliamentary election must not only hail from the constituency, but also must have stayed there for at least five years. Nyimakan?s records showed that he was born in Saboba and schooled at Tamale Secondary School and later taught at Chamba in the Bimbila Constituency.
Accra (The Statesman) - Parliament resumed last Tuesday after the Easter recess. Remarkably, many of the Parliamentarians have returned to work in high spirits, exhibiting a well-being perhaps only surpassed by a lady who won ?100 million on 5/39 Fortune last week.
And the source of contentment is the fleet of spanking brand new Honda CR-V vehicles at the Car Park, acquired through government guaranteed loans. One notable absentee is a brand new Nissan Terran ordered by the Member for the disputed Wulensi seat, Samuel Nyimakan. The Court of Appeal recently threw out his appeal against a High Court ruling that he should vacate the Wulensi seat.
Besides, all others who have not yet received there are expected to get them by next month. Marques ordered include, Nissan Terrano, BMW, Volvo, BVW Passat and Grand Cherokee.
It will be recalled that when a national daily reported that MPs were to receive $20.000 from the government to purchase motor vehicles, without adding that the amounts involved were actually loans, the public went beserk, condemning the legislature for being inconsiderate. The President responded by suspending the loan.
The Statesman has been reliably informed that the MP for Wulensi?s further application to the Supreme Court was motivated mainly by his desire to benefit from the car loan before leaving the House, by exploiting the appeal provision in the legal system.
The car loan is given to an individual MP and losing his seat affects neither his contractual responsibility to service neither the loan nor his bona fide ownership of the vehicle. The source said the leadership of the House, realising that it could not endorse the car loan while the Supreme Court is yet to give its ruling on the status of the Wulensi MP, directed Auto Parts Ghana Ltd., the Nissan dealers and one of the suppliers of the cars to MPs, to suspend the contract
According to Parliamentary sources, the leadership informed Auto Parts that Parliament would not be held responsible if Nymakan takes the car and payment becomes a problem.
As part of the condition for the car loan, an amount of ?1.2 million is being deducted from the salaries of the MPs every month. It is, however, not yet clear if ministers who are MPs would benefit from the loan. There are strong arguments in their favour. A Parliamentary source argued that since their official cars cannot be used for political programmes in line with the government?s zero tolerance for corruption policy, it will be wrong to prevent them access to the loans, as well.
Nyimakan?s fate would be known after the Supreme Court ruling. A search at the Supreme Court revealed that the case is yet to be listed. On 12 April the Court of Appeal presided by Justice (Mrs) Georgina Wood unanimously dismissed an appeal filed by Nyimakan which sough to overturn Justice Aninakwa?s decision of the Tamale High Court on the 2000 Parliamentary election, in the Wulensi Constituency.
An application had been filed in the High Court by Fuseini Zakaria, which stated that Nyimakan had breached the electoral law. Zakaria had accused the MP of violating the residency rule. It has been held that Nyimakan does not hail from any part of the constituency and has no record of residency whatsoever in the area as required by law.
Nyimakan, a Konkomba, from Saboba District, in his electoral application form indicated no residential status as requested on the form. Rather, he indicated letter ?X? meaning that it was inapplicable to him.
The electoral rules state that a candidate in a parliamentary election must not only hail from the constituency, but also must have stayed there for at least five years. Nyimakan?s records showed that he was born in Saboba and schooled at Tamale Secondary School and later taught at Chamba in the Bimbila Constituency.
