The Minority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Asawase in the Ashanti Region, Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak has served notice of a motion on the floor of Parliament for a vote of censure against the Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr. Alan Kyerematen.
Mr. Muntaka indicated that the Trade and Industry Minister has consistently failed to appear in the House on three occasions in the month of February, to answer some critical questions advertised in the Order Paper.
Mr. Muntaka averred that the Trade and Industry Minister is deliberately disrespecting the Plenary.
In his statement, Mr. Muntaka pointed out that he would soon trigger Order 180 of the Standing Orders of Parliament on the vote of censure to remove the Trade and Industry Minister from his office.
“He has no respect for this House. He has no regard for this House. In the space of one month, he asked that his questioning be postponed. Mr. Speaker I believe that this treating of Ministers with kid gloves is long overdue. They have no respect for this House”, Mr. Muntaka lamented.
Mr. Muntaka concluded that the Trade and Industry Minister’s behaviour must not be tolerated.
The Trade and Industry Minister, Mr. Alan Kyerematen was scheduled to answer a question in the House on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 but was absent with permission.
Majority’s response to Minority’s call
The Deputy Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya, Miss Sara Adwoa Safo, objected that there is no justification for the intended motion the Minority Chief Whip wants to move.
Responding to the statement made by Mr. Muntaka, Miss Adwoa Safo indicated that it is not deliberate on the part of the Trade Minister to avoid answering questions on the floor of Parliament.
He further reiterated that there is no indication that the Trade and Industry Minister does not respect this House.
She added that the Minister has nothing to avoid in making himself available to answer questions in the House.
Source: GhanaJustice/S.Ayisi