Speaker, Mensah Bonsu clash over ‘truant’ Ministers

The Speaker of Parliament Professor Mike Oquaye on Thursday clashed with the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu for justifying the absence the two Ministers of state from appearing before Parliament.

Ministers for Aviation and Agriculture were scheduled on the floor of the House Thursday to lay some papers as part of the emergency recall of Parliament.

They were, however, absent to the fury of the Speaker and the Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, with the latter slamming them for taking granted the emergency recall.

“Mr Speaker, as I speak I’m not seeing the designated Ministers, and Mr Speaker the Ministers must be in an emergency mood. This is an emergency recall and therefore, they should behave as well.

“It is not for us to get to an item, where you called us to suspend holidays and come and work and you are still as I may assume, rightly or wrongly on holiday. They must be in the mood for an emergency,” Mr Iddrisu said, followed by a declaration by the Speaker that: “Honourable Ministers should please come and let us work upon the emergency matters duly before us.

“This is my order.”

Despite the order, the Majority leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu attempted to hold brief for the truant Ministers leading to an altercation with the Speaker.

“Mr Speaker, respectfully for the records,” Mr Mensah-Bonsu began in his justification of the absence of the Ministers only for the Speaker to stop in his track saying: “Honourable Majority Leader, I am simply saying let us make progress.”

Still bent on making his point, the Majority Leader continued noting that he was just correcting the records, compelling the Speaker to come in with “Honourable Majority leader, you are responding to me.”