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Some ministers of state continue to virtually snub the legislature despite stern warning issued by the House that they could be cited for contempt of Parliament if they fail to appear before the House to perform their statutory functions. Members of Parliament (MPs) have complained about the ministers� persistent failure to turn up to answer parliamentary questions, move motions or assist in passing crucial bills, thereby stalling the business of the House. The behavior of such ministers, O.B. Amoah, MP for Aburi/Nsawam noted, prevents parliament from exercising its oversight responsibility over the executive or Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). MPs, particularly those from the minority side, have persistently taken on the executive for undermining the legislature because of what they described as the lackadaisical attitude of ministers towards the work of the House. The situation has deteriorated as some ministers have abandoned their official duties and are busily campaigning for their aspirants ahead of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential primaries slated for Sunyani from July 8-10, 2011. Following the MPs� complaints, Speaker Justice Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo directed the Majority Leader, Cletus Avoka to inform Ministers of state to take the House seriously or face the consequences as �Parliament is an august body� that must be respected. The Ministers, she cautioned, could be charged for contempt of Parliament under Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution because their failure to appear before the House, when needed, amounted to impeding the work of the Legislature. Hon. Amoah said the continuous delay in answering parliamentary questions, which has led to violation of laws passed by the Legislature, must not be countenanced. Parliament, the Aburi/Nsawam MP advocated, must not tolerate such blatant violations of country�s laws as it undermines the work of the legislature and the overall development of the country. The former Deputy Minister for Education, Science and Sports said he filed a question to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor asking him about the reports of National Procurement Board which were supposed to be presented to the House. According to the lawmaker, the 2009 and 2010 reports of the Procurement Board were in arrears, in violation of the Procurement Act 2003, Act 663. Hon. Amoah said the 2009 report should have been presented by the end of April 2010 whilst that of 2010 should also have been brought to Parliament by the end of the fourth month in 2011. However, the question was not answered because the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning was not available. Again, the Minister was supposed to answer a question last Friday only for MPs to be informed at the last hour that he and his two deputies had traveled outside the country, leaving Parliament in limbo. The Procurement Act states in part that the Board shall within three months after the end of each year submit to the Minister a written report indicating the activities and operations of the Board in respect of the preceding year including contracts awarded and the Minister shall present same to Parliament for consideration. However, this has not been done. Hon. Amoah pointed out that Clement Kofi Humado, the Minister for Youth and Sports, was supposed to answer a question, part of which was about the World Cup account. He noted that one year after the event in South Africa, the Ministry has still not provided answers to questions filed long before the current minister took office. Per the Standing Orders of the House, ministers are not supposed to use more than three weeks to answer parliamentary questions but this rule has been flouted with impunity.