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Tag: Parliament

  • President’s Akufo-Addo swearing-in ceremony to be held in parliament not the Black Star Square

    President’s Akufo-Addo swearing-in ceremony to be held in parliament not the Black Star Square

    The swearing-in of President Akufo-Addo which is scheduled for January 7, 2021, will be held in parliament contrary to the norm where it is held at the Black Square.

    This follows an appeal by parliamentarians to have subsequent swearing-in done in the precincts of Ghana’s parliament and not the independence square.

    This was conveyed by Deputy Information Mister Pius Enam Hadzide at a press briefing in Accra today where he said: “the transition team has favourably considered the request of Parliament and has decided that the swearing of President Akufo-Addo on January 7, shall happen before Parliament and within the precincts of Parliament.”

    President Akufo-Addo was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election by the Electoral Commission. The election which has been described as a closely contested one is still in dispute as the main opposition party NDC and John Mahama have refused to accept the outcome.

    Ghbase

  • Parliament amends road traffic law to protect the unborn child

    Parliament amends road traffic law to protect the unborn child

    Parliament, on Monday, 21 December 2020, passed the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill.

    It is to ensure the protection of an unborn child on the country’s roads.

    It seeks to amend the Road Traffic Act, 2004 (Act 683) and prohibits acts constituting dangerous cycling and driving leading to the injury or death of unborn children and related matters.

    Under the bill, the law will recognize the loss of an unborn child as a distinct loss, not only an injury suffered by a pregnant woman.

    The Bill will also ensure that cyclists and drivers who cause death or injury to an unborn child through their actions are given harsher punishments while imposing on the driver, a duty to report to the police, accidents that result in the death of an unborn child as soon as possible.

    Also, under the new law, drivers and riders whose actions result in the death or injury of an unborn child will serve a minimum of three years and maximum of seven years in jail, if found guilty.

    The Bill, which was sponsored jointly by the Chairman of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Mr Ben Abdallah Banda, Kumbungu MP Ras Mubarak, Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, and Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, will become the first-ever private members’ Bill to be passed by Parliament.

    This follows the adaptation of the proposal for the enactment of the Private Members’ Bill on July 19, 2020 under the leadership of Speaker Mike Oquaye.

    The adoption made the introduction of bills for consideration in Parliament no more a sole prerogative of the Executive through Ministers of State.

    This enables private citizens and individual MPs, who are not ministers of state, to initiate or introduce bills for consideration in parliament.

    According to a memorandum accompanying the Bill, it is for the protection of children, generally.

    For instance, Section 14 prohibits a person from driving a vehicle with a child of less than five years in the front seat of the vehicle.

    Source: Class FM

  • Parliament To Pass Ghana Enterprises Agency Bill 2020 Under Certificate Of Urgency

    Parliament To Pass Ghana Enterprises Agency Bill 2020 Under Certificate Of Urgency

    Members of Parliament have agreed in principle to pass the Ghana Enterprises Agency Bill, 2020 into an Act under a certificate of urgency before the House rises next week. 

    The purpose of the bill is to establish the Ghana Enterprises Agency to oversee, coordinate, promote and develop Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs)

    If passed, a fund would be established to provide funding for the MSME sector to address gaps in funding for the enterprises and to develop the sector, especially the ones in rural areas.

    At the second reading of the Bill in Parliament yesterday, the lawmakers said the yet to be enacted law would significantly address the bottlenecks that affect MSMEs. 

    In their view, the coronavirus pandemic and its associating effects makes the urgency of the bill more than ever before. 

    Given the merit of the bill and the need to ensure Ghanaian businesses are cushioned in these times of the pandemic, the bill needs to be taken through all the stages of the passage in one day”, the report of the Trade, Industry, and Tourism Committee on whether or not the bill was of urgent nature urged.

    The committee’s report observed that MSMEs play critical roles in national development and economic transformation. 

    “They constitute about 92 per cent of businesses in Ghana, account for about 85 per cent of manufacturing employment and contribute about 70 per cent to Gross Domestic Product of the country,” the report said. 

    This notwithstanding, the sector still faced challenges and constraints that impeded the growth of MSMEs in Ghana, the report added. 

    Notable among them, the report said included the high cost of doing business, limited access to credit and business development services and inability to meet production standards amongst others. 

    “There is therefore the need to support the growth and development of the MSMEs sector to generate jobs and incomes, increase government revenue and help eradicate poverty in Ghana,” it stated. 

    The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, supporting the motion for the bill to be passed under certificate of urgency said the politicisation of enterprises was not good for the growth of the sector. 

    Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader, said there had never been a metric to determine which enterprise qualified to be an MSME; one thing he said the imminent act would address. 

    He said it was time the Government of Ghana supported local enterprises to become global conglomerates like the Dangotes and the Mo Ibrahims.

    Peacefmonline