�NDC Has No Men To Debate NPP�

The Member of Parliament for Atwima-Mponua, Hon. Isaac Kwame Asiamah and other Minority Members of Parliament have heavily chided their Majority NDC counterparts for bringing Ministers from the executive wing of government to debate them (Minority) on the President�s State of the Nation Address. According to Hon. Asiamah and his colleagues, though the Constitution clearly gives Ministers and the Vice President the opportunity to debate on issues on the floor of Parliament, it is completely unacceptable when the NDC claim to have the men to do the job in the House but yet call on appointed Ministers of the President to debate their �Master�s� own message on the State of the Nation. �If you don�t have the men to debate tell us, why bring in Ministers who are with the executive to debate the President�s message here in Parliament,� the Minority shouted in a chorus from the backbench. The NPP Minority raised objections when the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu, was called by the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Justice Joyce Bamford Addo, last Friday to make her contribution on the motion to thank the President on the message he delivered on the State of the Nation. However, the Rt. Hon. Speaker in her ruling based on the Constitution allowed the Attorney General to make her contribution on the motion before the House. Earlier the Member of Parliament for Manhyia, Hon. Mattew Opoku Prempeh, charged the Minister for Interior, Mr Martin Amidu, as a matter of urgency, to furnish the House with a national master plan to help solve the numerous disasters confronting the country lately. According to Hon. Opoku Prempeh, though issues of disasters such as fire and rainstorms destroying a lot of state and individual properties couldn�t be stopped outright, the NDC led government must show commitment to minimize their occurrence. Hon. Opoku Prempeh was responding to a statement made by Hon. Donald Dari Soditey on rainstorm disaster in Kulmasa on the floor of the House on Thursday. The MP for Sawla/Tuna/Kalba, Hon. Soditey noted in his statement that precisely on Saturday 20th February 2010, a strong devastating rainstorm hit Kulmasa town ripping off the roofs of over seventy-three houses. He emphasised that over seven hundred people, mostly women and children, were rendered homeless and the victims at the moment are putting up with relatives in nearby communities. He continued that some of the affected public properties include two primary schools and the central Mosque, adding that several electricity poles were also destroyed leaving Kulmasa temporarily disconnected from the national grid. Hon. Soditey later pointed out that foodstuff and other personal belongings were destroyed in the disaster and the cost of the destruction runs into several thousands of Ghana cedis, stressing that teaching and learning had become difficult for both teachers and pupils since they are now sitting under trees without teaching equipment or aid such as blackboards. The rest of the MPs who contributed to the statement on the floor of the House appealed to the government through NADMO, NGOs and Civil Society as well as individuals to come to the aid of the people of Kulmasa community.