Parliament probing 'China chairs' acquisition – Fritz Baffour

The Member of Parliament for the Ablekuma South constituency, Fritz Baffour, has revealed that Parliament is investigating the acquisition of some furniture from China to refurbish Ghana's law house.

Ghanaian MPs have come under intense criticism for importing luxurious furniture from China to stock its Chamber.

The entire renovation cost the nation, GHC 21,950,855.00, an official document from parliament chamber has stated.

Speaking on Morning Starr on Starr 103.5FM with hosts Kafui Dey and Jackie Ankrah Wednesday, Baffour said the committee tasked to refurbish the chamber explained that the local manufacturers did not have the capacity to produce the furniture.

The communications expert added that the claims by the committee are, however, being probed.

“When we came, it had been reconfigured and we had these chairs, and the controversy started, so naturally I had to ask: ‘Couldn’t we have bought these chairs from Ghana?’

“So, at the moment, I am still investigating, still asking questions and I am going to go round the furniture companies to find out what the problems are.

“But overall I think that it is a symptom of what we are going through in this country; I believe very much that this time of our existence, almost 60 years of independence it is a time for a reality check”.

The former Information Minister added that: “I didn’t have any objections at the time because of the reasons given...I thought they might have had the right reasons for it...right now we [Parliament] are looking into it, some people are not very happy about it. We are appealing to our members for calm so we can look into it to find out why it has happened that way”.