Parliament defers statement until boycott is over

Accra, Feb 9, GNA - Parliament on Friday deferred a statement to be made by Mr Kwabena Okerchiri, NPP Nkawkaw, expecting the minority NDC, now on a boycott, to return so that contributions from both the Majority and the Minority would be richer.

Mr Okerchire was about to read the statement when Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong, the Majority Leader on the promptings of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, Foreign Affairs Minister, asked for the reading of the statement to be deferred.

Mr Owusu-Adjapong explained the importance and seriousness of the statement required a fuller House and the contributions of the Minority NDC.

Mr Okerchiri later told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the statement would border on congratulations to President John Agyekum Kufuor on his assumption of the chair of the African Union (AU). Mr Okerchiri said the statement would also touch on the way to go on the integration process of Africa.

He spoke of an impending AU meeting in Accra and said the House could have discussed the statement without the minority NDC but added that the present stage of Ghana's democracy required contributions from all sides of the House.

The MP said Ghana was making a lot of strides in her democracy and had moved beyond a budding democracy to a stage where discussions should involve all sides of the House to make the practice of democracy more meaningful.

On the seat of Mr Eric Amoateng, former NPP Member for Nkoranza North that was declared vacant by Parliament on Friday, Mr Okerchiri said the party would have wished there was no bye-election, explaining that it required time, energy and money. He said they would not be surprised if the NPP clinched the seat again in a bye-election as Mr Amoateng had left an indelible mark for the constituency and had personally contributed to the improvement of the lives of the people of Nkoranza.