PAC sitting ends abruptly following recall of NDC majority side 

Proceedings of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) ended abruptly yesterday following the whipping of the majority members of the committee.

According to the chairperson of the committee, Abena Osei Asare, the meeting reluctantly had to end to accommodate a request by the majority side of the House. At the time of the incidence, the ministry of energy was before the committee.

The PAC session had proceeded for about an hour when the chairperson announced unexpectedly that proceedings had to come to an end. She explained to the minority members who were present and the guests who visibly looked shocked that “a majority chief whip” had called members of the majority on the committee to the chamber.

She said, “Respectfully, the whip from the majority side says their members are needed in the chamber even though we are also doing our national duty. So, respectfully, without an available ranking we cannot continue. So, on this note, we have to bring our proceedings to an end to accommodate the request of the majority, even though they submitted this report in Parliament, and Mr Speaker directed that the Public Accounts Committee sit on this report and in three weeks come up with our findings.

“He walked in, he is standing out there and whipping members. Once the ranking leaves and there is no available ranking, this meeting cannot continue. You know we abide by rules and laws. So sorry. Thank you,” the PAC chair added.

 

PRACTICE

It is normal practice that a committee of Parliament sit simultaneously as business proceeds in the chamber. Some committees may sit early before chamber work begins or meet after adjournment, but the same does not negate the practice that a committee sitting may occur while plenary session is ongoing. It was not immediately known the reason for the whipping by the majority whip.

 

PLENARY

However, when this paper checked in on the floor from the PAC sitting, the major item on the floor of the House was the correction of votes and proceedings of the previous day. The chairperson of the PAC raised the matter on the floor, minutes after reluctantly ending the meetings and apologising to the invitees.

She repeated what she had told the invitees at the PAC about why the meeting had to end and sought direction on the way forward with regard to the time frame given to the committee to work and submit its report.

The Majority Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamakpor, explained that there was a need for the whipping statement to be activated.

He said that “we met yesterday and” decided that “committee activities should be suspended till Friday” in order to have the numbers to transact government business on the floor.

He indicated that the options available were for committee meetings to be held from 8am to 10am before the plenary or after adjournment.

“But if you fix committee activity that clashes with the time of the plenary, it is hurting our numbers. Because they [minority] are the same people who may raise issues of quorum,” he added.

The Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, who is the Chief Whip of the minority, rebutted, saying that the statement from Dafeamakpor that the minority would turn around to raise the issue of quorum “was most unfair.”

He stated that quorum was a right to both sides of the House, but not peculiar to the minority only, adding that “maybe you [majority] are not exercising it.”

While sharing in the concerns raised by the PAC chair, he stressed that “a simple engagement could have avoided this embarrassing situation, referring to the inconvenience Parliament had created for the people it invited to meet the PAC.

He urged that the leaders of the committee should meet to agree on a way forward so they could transact their business.

 

QUORUM

According to Article 102, at least one third of members of parliament are expected to be in the chamber to form a quorum for business.To satisfy the dictate of Article 102 by the current 276 members of Parliament, only 92 of the legislators are needed.Meanwhile, the majority in Parliament that prosecutes the business of their government are over 180, and the minority is less than 90.

The First Deputy Speaker, Bernard Ahiafor, indicated that the hands of the speaker were tied, as Ghana’s Parliament runs the whip system. He said that no speaker could truncate the whipping system. He urged the leadership to meet and iron out all the issues.

 

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