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Speaker declares NPP as majority group in Parliament
The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has declared the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Caucus as having the majority side in the House following the declaration by the Independent Fomena MP, Hon.
Andrew Amoako Asiamah to associate with the NPP Party for purposes of transacting business in Parliament.
With Hon. Asiamah holding the balance in Parliament following a tie in numbers, thus 137 apiece for both NPP and NDC Caucus, his association with the NPP Caucus therefore gives them a superior numerical advantage of 138:137 to be declared the Majority Caucus.
The Speaker having recognized the wish of Hon. Asiamah and read his declaration letter dated January 13, 2021, to Members on the floor of the House at a sitting on Friday, January 15, 2021, declared the NPP side the Majority group in Parliament.
“Hon. Members, with this official declaration to the House, the House will accord him the space to do as he has stated. Whatever he said outside was of no effect so far as the business of the House is concerned. Therefore, he has to do it officially for it to be read and captured in the Hansard. And so what we have now – we have the New Patriotic Party Caucus in Parliament together with the Independent Member of Parliament for Fomena now constitute the Majority Group”, he declared amidst cheers and singing from the NPP MPs.
The declaration made by the Speaker therefore puts to rest the brouhaha surrounding which group constitutes Majority and Minority in Parliament.
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
