By Daniel Bampoe
Minority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Hon. Frank Annoh-Dompreh, mounted a fierce attack on the Majority side of Parliament during proceedings marking the commencement of the Second Meeting of the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament, accusing the Mahama administration and the Majority leadership of frustrating parliamentary accountability and mismanaging the business of the House.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament in reaction to the Business Statement presented by Majority Leader, Hon. Mahama Ayariga, the outspoken Minority Chief Whip questioned what he described as the government’s failure to prioritize ministerial accountability despite hundreds of unanswered parliamentary questions and unresolved referrals piling up before committees.
Annoh-Dompreh began by sarcastically welcoming the Majority Leader to the Chamber after indications earlier suggested he might not be available to present the Business Statement himself.
“We got prior information that he was not available, and we are happy he made time to be here,” he remarked, before launching into a detailed criticism of the parliamentary schedule presented by the Majority.
The Minority Chief Whip expressed shock that the Business Statement for the first two sitting days of the meeting — Thursday and Friday — failed to programme a single minister to appear before Parliament to answer questions, despite what he described as a historic backlog of over 300 unanswered parliamentary questions.
According to him, official records from the Table Office showed that the Minister for Health alone had 60 outstanding questions pending before the House, while the Minister for Roads and Highways had 24 unanswered questions.
He further disclosed that the Finance Minister had 29 outstanding questions awaiting responses.
“All put together, we have 304 outstanding questions,” he declared on the floor.
He argued that Parliament had a “golden opportunity” to begin clearing the backlog immediately as the House resumed sitting, but the Majority had instead chosen not to programme ministers to answer questions on either of the first two days.
“This cannot be acceptable to this House,” Annoh-Dompreh stressed.
The Minority Chief Whip reminded the Majority that parliamentary practice required engagement between leadership and ministers ahead of sittings to properly organise business for the House, a practice he said the current Majority leadership inherited from the previous NPP administration.
“I know you are taking a cue from me. That is fine,” he teased the Majority side.
He accused the government of wasting parliamentary sitting days by failing to compel ministers to appear before Members of Parliament to account for their sectors.
“Why today no show? Tomorrow no show? Meanwhile you have over 300 questions outstanding,” he queried.
Annoh-Dompreh also turned his attention to what he described as an alarming accumulation of unresolved committee referrals in Parliament, disclosing that the House currently had 291 outstanding referrals awaiting action by committees.
“This is historic. You are making history,” he told the Majority Leader.
He recalled earlier warnings from the Majority leadership about imposing punitive measures against committees failing to work on referrals, but lamented that the situation had only worsened.
According to him, the increasing backlog was undermining the efficiency and credibility of Parliament.
“We want to help you to respond to your 24-hour economy policy, but you are not helping yourself,” he jabbed at the Majority Leader.
The Minority Chief Whip further criticized what he described as procedural irregularities in the handling of parliamentary business, particularly the practice of programming motions and consequential resolutions on matters that had not yet been properly referred to committees for consideration.
“I’m not too old in this House, but I know that if you are laying papers, you cannot go ahead and programme motions and consequential resolutions at the same time,” he argued.
“That is wrong. The referrals have not even been done. The committees have not even reported,” he added emphatically.
His comments drew reactions from both sides of the aisle, including interventions from the Majority Chief Whip and the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin, who repeatedly attempted to restore order and moderate the heated exchanges.
The debate took another turn when Annoh-Dompreh accused some ministers of refusing to allow their deputy ministers to appear before Parliament to answer questions on their behalf while they travelled abroad for conferences and official engagements.
“Ministers who are here, this excuse — ‘I am attending conference here and there’ — we are not going to accept that this time,” he warned.
He complained that some ministers insisted on personally handling parliamentary appearances while simultaneously being unavailable due to foreign travels to countries including China and Azerbaijan.
“If the ministers cannot come, their deputies should find their way here,” he insisted.
At one point, his remarks prompted interruptions from members on the Majority side, with the Speaker cautioning him to conclude his submissions.
However, Annoh-Dompreh maintained his criticism, insisting that Parliament could not continue operating with such massive backlogs while government ministers remained absent from the Chamber.
He warned the Majority that the Minority would become more aggressive in demanding accountability as Parliament resumed its full sitting.
“You are not going to treat this sitting loosely. Get ready,” he cautioned.
