The Speaker of Parliament, Right Honourary Peter Ala Adjetey has criticized sections of the media for deliberately inciting the public against the legislature with the recent outcry over the 20-thousand dollar car loans for MPs. Mr. Ala Adjetey also condemned what he described as attempts to portray him as a self-seeking person wishing to exploit his position as Speaker of the House.
During an interaction with the Parliamentary Press Corp at a retreat in Aburi over the weekend, Mr. Ala Adjetey noted that the image of Parliament suffered severely as a result of the public outcry against the proposal to grant the loans to the MPs.
He explained that before the issue of the loans became Public, the Parliamentary Service Board had already taken a decision to purchase five cars for Parliament. One of such vehicles was the Mercedes Benz the Speaker reportedly asked for.
This car, which was delivered by a motor company in Accra, was rejected by the Speaker because, according to him, it was not brand-new. The Speaker further explained that he has been using his personal car for official duties after the one he inherited from his predecessor broke down.
He therefore wondered why the Press made no effort to contact him on the authenticity of the story but chose to go ahead and report that he had been offered a $60,000 dollar Mercedes Benz when it was not true. Receiving what seemed like moral support from the Majority leader, Papa Owusu Ankoma and other MPs, Mr. Ala Adjetey told the press corps that he was not the type of person the media had portrayed over the past few weeks.
According to him, he Personally bought the Mercedes Benz he has been using for official duties as far back as in April last year, long before he became the Speaker of Parliament. Mr. Adjetey announced plans to set up a Public relations outfit for the office of Parliament.
The outfit will have a responsibility to defend the integrity of parliament whenever the house is drawn into a controversy. Even though the establishment of the Unit has been on the drawing board, it has now become a priority after the embarrassment members of Parliamentarians suffered over the $20,000 car loan issue.
