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Learn to be principled – Della Sowah tells NPP
Member of Parliament(MP) for Kpando Constituency, Della Sowah has advised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to learn to be principled in their dealings with Ghanaians.
According to Della Sowah, she was surprised by the stands and commentary by the NPP regarding the ruling of the Speaker of Parliament yesterday.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin yesterday declared four seats in parliament as vacant.
This followed a motion filed by former Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu.
He argued that the MPs who are seeking to contest the upcoming December elections as independent candidates must renounce their parliamentary positions as outlined in the constitutional provisions governing parliamentary membership.
The affected MPs are Cynthia Morrison (Agona West), Kojo Asante (Suhum), Andrew Asiamah (Fomena), and Peter Kwakye Ackah (Amenfi Central).
However, the NPP MPs, including their Leader Afenyo Markin, believe the Speaker was wrong in his ruling because he did not have that power to make such a determination.
They also say that the precedence set by Professor Mike Oquaye was in error.
This notwithstanding, Della Sowah is of the view that such a sudden switch is just a display of hypocrisy at the highest level.
Della Sowah added that Article 97(1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution provides “a member of Parliament shall vacate his seat in Parliament if he leaves the party of which he was a member at the time of his election to Parliament to join another party or seeks to remain in Parliament as an independent member.”
The Kpando MP said Article 97(1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution is
clear and does not need any special interpretation for one to understand.
She concluded by saying that Ghanaians are tired of politics of convenience.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
Deputy Minister of Finance, Thomas Nyarko Ampem has today revealed in Parliament that special audit has uncovered over payments for transportation of grains in respect of the dry spell expenditure.
According to the Deputy Minister, Under the Farmer Food Relief and Recovery Programme, a transportation company was contracted to transport 134,000 metric tonnes of maize and rice to farmers across the country at a contract sum of GH¢115.2 million.
Even though the company transported only 35,000 metric tonnes which should have costed GH¢30.9 million, the company was paid GH¢50 million.
In addition to this payment, the company was given 7,311 metric tonnes of rice equivalent to 14,622 bags of 50kg rice, which amounts to GH¢11.7 million in lieu of cash for no work done. This brings total payment to GH¢61.7 million.
As a result, the Auditor-General accordingly rejected an amount of GH¢65.2 million that was requested by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture as additional payment to the said transport company.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
Deputy Minister for Finance, Thomas Ampem Nyarko, has revealed that thousands of tonnes of food supplied under government’s 2024 dry spell intervention cannot be accounted for after a special audit.
According to him, the audit found discrepancies in the supply of rice and maize purchased by the Government of Ghana to support farmers and vulnerable communities affected by the dry spell.
He explained that government paid for 34,000 metric tonnes of rice to help address the impact of the dry spell. However, records from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture show that only 24,000 metric tonnes were received and distributed.
He noted that about 10,000 metric tonnes of rice remain unaccounted for even though the full quantity had already been paid for by the state.
The deputy minister also disclosed that government had contracted a company to supply 100,000 metric tonnes of maize as part of the intervention.
He said the Ministry of Food and Agriculture submitted Stores Receipt Advice as proof that the full quantity of maize valued at GH¢771.2 million had been delivered. The document was presented to the Ministry of Finance to facilitate payment.
However, the audit revealed that only 11,900 metric tonnes of maize were actually supplied and distributed.
He further stated that the Stores Receipt Advice used to support the payment was accompanied by a checklist certified by the internal auditor of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
The findings form part of a special audit conducted to review government expenditure related to the dry spell response in 2024.
By Jacob Aggrey
