The Parliamentary Service Board has ordered an inquiry into the power outage which occurred in the House last Wednesday and interrupted business for more than one hour.
The board has also ordered the interdiction of the Director of Development of the Parliamentary Service, Mr Safo Dodoo, who is the official, charged with managing the utility facilities in the House.
The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, announced this last Friday when he declared an adjournment of the House.
He said the board had taken a serious view of the power outage and the embarrassment it caused Parliament; hence the move.
He said it appeared that Parliament had, over the past year, failed to take action on the issue; a situation which had made the outages frequent.
Mr Adjaho said apart from the interdiction, other measures had been put in place to address the problem, which included stationing an officer of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) permanently in Parliament to quickly fix any problems related to power when they occur.
The Parliamentary Service Board is made up of the Speaker; the Majority Leader, Mr Alban S.K Bagbin; the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu; a Deputy Majority Whip, Hajia Mary Salifu Boforo; a former Member of Parliament, Nii Okaidjah Adamafio, and the Clerk of Parliament, Mr Emmanuel Anyimadu. Expression of gratitude
Turning the spotlight on other issues, the Speaker assured members that they would move to the Job 600 Office Complex when the House resumes in October.
He expressed gratitude to the leaders of both sides of the House for assisting him in steering affairs to a successful end.
He also thanked members of the Minority who lost their parliamentary primaries and yet put their expertise and experiences at the disposal of Parliament for their dedication. Majority and Minority leaders
Mr Bagbin expressed appreciation to the Speaker and his two deputies for steering affairs to a successful end and to the leadership of the Minority for the team spirit they displayed.
He also commended the Parliamentary Press Corps for the wide coverage given to activities in the House.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu reiterated his commitment to co-operate with the Majority to facilitate the implementation of government policies.
"Notwithstanding, we will reinvigorate our effort to scrutinise government policies, programmes and projects to ensure that the country has value for public money spent and also unveil corruption wherever it is situated." Recap of events
The just-ended meeting of Parliament began on May 12, 2015, and ended on July 24, 2015.
The House held 43 sittings within the 11-week period.
During the meeting, a sitting MP, Mr Robert Nachinab Doameng Mosore (NPP Talensi), was enskinned Paramount Chief of Tongo under the skin name, Tongraana Kugbilsong Nanlebiktang.
He vacated his seat and a by-election was held in the Talensi Constituency, which was won by Mr Benson Tongo Baba of the NDC.
The House approved two nominations for appointment to the Supreme Court: Mr Justice Yaw Appau and Mr Gabriel Scott Pwamang.
Seven bills were passed during the period. They included the Income Tax Bill, 2015; the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Bill, 2015; the Nuclear Regulatory Authority Bill, 2015; the Petroleum Revenue Management (Amendment) Bill, 2015; and the University of Environment and Sustainable Development Bill, 2015.
The much-lamented Right to Information Bill (RTI) was taken through a second reading.
The high point of the meeting, undoubtedly, was the presentation of the mid-year review of the budget statement and economic policy and supplementary estimates of the government which was presented by the Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper.
Parliament also approved a request by the government to raise $1.5 billion from the Eurobond market.
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