It�s Cock & Bull Story

Two National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament yesterday took on the Mills Administration over certain lapses in the running of the country. At different forums, the MP for Nabdam, Moses Asaga and his colleague from Ashaiman, Alfred Kwame Agbesi, blasted the government for telling them �cock and bull� stories. Speaking at an oil and gas forum at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Moses Asaga openly exhibited his frustrations over the management of the country�s oil resources. According to him, as a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy, whenever he asked for information on oil and gas from his own government, they would tell him cock and bull stories. Asaga, who spoke on �Accountability Mechanisms; the Role of Parliament in Ghana�, said it was time the government straightened things and that it did not take donkey years to draft a bill on the country�s oil and gas resources. His comments received commendations from the chiefs who were present at the forum particularly Nana Kobina Nketsia, Omanhene of Essikado who praised the MP for his boldness and frankness. Charles Kofi Wayo also threw a bombshell at the forum organized by the World Bank, saying that it was �bullshit�. According to him, the conference would not achieve any desirable effects, especially with the World Bank�s involvement. After dropping the bomb and setting tongues wagging, Wayo walked out of the conference, which was under the theme: �Potential Impact of Oil and Gas for Ghana�. In the case of Alfred Agbesi, he took President John Atta Mills to task for moving too slowly in fulfilling solemn promises he made to legislators on the floor of Parliament earlier this year. Virtually concurring with NDC founder, former President Jerry John Rawlings and some party bigwigs who had on different occasions fired President Mills for moving the wheel of government machinery at a snail�s pace, Agbesi lamented that although the President had promised to provide constituency offices for all MPs, there were no signs the pledges would be fulfilled. �It is not a matter of coming to the floor of the House to promise but promises must be fulfilled. We want to see action, not words,� Hon. Agbesi, who is also the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, charged whilst contributing to the debate on the 2010 budget statement on the floor of Parliament yesterday. Further bemoaning the lack of offices for MPs to effectively do their work, Hon. Agbesi said it was a pity that Parliament continued to pass budgets for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MMDAs) and yet their welfare was not being taken care of. �MPs have no offices. MPs even sit in cars to eat,� the MP for Ashaiman lamented, further regretting that government was not doing enough to solve the situation. �With a little effort, Parliament can get offices but it�s like nobody cares about Parliament. MPs are taken for granted,� Hon. Agbesi cried out, lashing at government for not taking the issue of MPs� office accommodation seriously. The predicament of MPs, he indicated, could have been ameliorated if government had released the premises of the defunct Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to Parliament to serve as office accommodation for the legislators, which according to him, was rather being used as Castle annex and occupied by presidential staffers. Calling for the approval of the budget, which he noted, had made provisions for �A better Ghana Agenda� promised by the ruling NDC, Hon. Agbesi urged President Mills to live up to his promise by completing the Job 600 to provide offices for MPs. �By the end of next year, MPs would want to see the completion of Job 600 and I hope that next year by this time, every MP will be provided with an office,� Hon. Agbesi stressed. Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs praised government for continuing with reforms initiated by the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration in the judiciary to provide justice for all. Also reiterating his belief in the efficacy of the traditional or herbal medicine, Hon. Agbesi appealed to government to support the growth of the sector. �Some of us are traditionalists and we have tried both the orthodox and herbal medicines for the treatment of ailments and I can tell you the traditional medicine works very well. I know many people including MPs have used traditional medicine to treat diseases. We should try to grow the industry,� he urged. In his submission, MP for Tano North, Ernest Akubour Debrah said there were inconsistencies in the budget statement and economic policy of government, citing Government�s decision to rehabilitate irrigation schemes, particularly Tano and Vea Irrigation schemes which had already been completed by the previous administration and therefore did not see why it should be factored in next year�s budget. Besides, the rehabilitation of the warehouses in Yendi and Tamale had already been taken care of in 2007 and should not have been captured in the budget. Consequently, he challenged Government to come out clear with its development strategy in the agricultural sector. Lamenting about inadequate credit facilities to farmers, Mr. Debrah, who is a former Minister of Agriculture, pointed out that peasant farmers constitute about 88 percent of the population and that availability and prompt accessibility to credit were necessary for them to efficiently and effectively produce for local consumption and even export. However, the 2010 Budget, he detected, had not provided for timely availability and accessibility of credit to farmers, suggesting to Government to put in place programmes to ensure farmers get support particularly in the area of credit in their business. Expressing dissatisfaction in the budgetary allocation to services on agriculture that aimed at increasing the scale of production and productivity, the MP recalled that last year, GH�3.1million was earmarked to support services, noting that in his view, �this year with high growth and productivity, one would have expected improvement in the support services but this has rather been cut down to GH�2.5million�.