Parliament has debunked claims that the house is broke to reconvene today. A statement signed by the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, says the third session of the sixth Parliament of the fourth Republic will commence on February 3, 2015.
According to some media reports, Parliament is reconvening not earlier than next week because it is broke.
However, multiple sources close to Parliament told Daily Graphic in an interview that those assertions were very misleading.
The Clerk of Parliament, Mr Akwasi Anyimadu, insisted that there was enough money to run the house and that the new date for the reconvening of the house had nothing to do with funds.
He said even though the Speaker and the leadership of the house had fixed January 27 as the date for reconvening, that date was tentative and that the issue of finance was totally out.
He explained that the Speaker adjourned the house sine die subject to recall by the speaker in exercise of the powers conferred on him by clause (1) of article 112 of the Constitution.
Members of Parliament were expected to reconvene today, January 27, after they rose sine die for the Christmas holidays, but the date for their resumption was postponed to February 3, prompting speculations on the financial state of the house.
The Deputy Majority Leader, Mr Alfred Agbesi, speaking with Citi News, also explained that the Speaker used his discretion to choose the new date after the business committee of the house proposed a date.
In the second quarter of 2014, Parliament was forced to postpone its resumption date due to financial difficulties.
He said the recall of Parliament was the prerogative of the speaker, so if the business committee proposed a date, it was subject to the approval of the Speaker “so that is why normally, Parliament is adjourned sine die.”
Mr Agbesi stressed that to the best of his knowledge, “the date being fixed as 3rd February is not due to any financial constraint.”
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, in May 2014 told Citi News that the house which was expected to resume on May 27 had to reschedule the resumption date to June 3 due to financial difficulties after rising on March 28, 2014.
Rumours of financial difficulties surfaced again after the house decided to rise earlier than the scheduled date.
But Mr Agbesi shot down those rumours with the explanation that the decision was to pave the way for expansion works to take place in the chamber of the house.
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