Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has assured Members of Parliament (MPs) the new Standing Orders of the House will allow them to proceed on leave.
“I intend to propose for Members of Parliament to be allowed to go on leave because it is unhealthy for them to work throughout the four years that they are elected without resting so I will be proposing as part of the new Standing Orders for at least for some period for you to rest and that is done all over the world and you will have some days to rest,” he stressed.
Mr Bagbin explained that it was harmful for MPs to work throughout without their term without relaxing which he had experienced for almost 30 years now and definitely with that experience he did not want those of them behind him to go through the same stress which could affect their work.
“I have experience this for the past 30 years and I do not want those of you behind me to go through the stress some of us went through which affected our work in the House and in the constituencies and even as the House recede the various Committees of Parliament will still be sitting to do the business of the legislature,” he revealed and lauded them for their cooperation, vibrant and educative engagements that the House endured during the second meeting of the Eighth Parliament.
Earlier, Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu indicated that during the sitting out of the 12 bills that came before the House, they were able to handle five of them including amendment of the Criminal and other Offences Act, Ghana Standards Authority Bill, Fees and Charges Bill, Tax Exemption Bill among others.
He noted that the 20 Instruments which came to the House were currently before the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation and commended members for their cooperation during the sitting and tasked them to use the recess to touch base with their constituency.
Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, thanked the Speaker for his good leadership in making Parliament strong, transparent and accountable to the people and commended members and the leadership for working together to ensure cohesion and harmony in the House during the sitting.
