Speaker of Parliament Prof. Aaron Michael Oquaye has postponed debate on the Pwalugu Dam project following objections from the Minority.
The report of the Finance Committee on the project that included US$366 million for a 60MW hydropower plant, US$55.4 million for a 50MW solar plant and US$474.1 million for a 24-Hectare Irrigation Scheme was to have been laid on Thursday for debate.
However, the Minority led by its leader, Haruna Iddrisu raised objections and argued anomalies associated with how the report was generated leave much to be desired.
The Majority led by Mathew Nyindam was not enthused about the claims of the Minority which countered the statement leading to a war of words and forcing the speaker to rule on the standoff.
Professor Mike Oquaye noted that when the same matter became a subject of debate in the House last month he had indicated his interest and that of the House is not limited to one subject but the variety of businesses the House is seized with.
According to him, when the agreement was first laid in the House it was referred to the Finance Committee to be joined by leaders of the Agriculture and Mines and Energy Committees and that copies of the report have been made available to members.
“I will, however, adjourn this matter to next Tuesday so that any member who wishes to do any research or analysis for presentation to get him/herself fully prepared.”
“Let it be clear we are now only debating the matter. Do your research; bring your facts and figures and your analysis because a committee of this House is not the House.”
“This is a recommendation by our rules. Any argument for or against by any member will be duly accepted and considered on Tuesday.”
The Speaker pointed out that the report is only a recommendation from the Committee so a full debate on Tuesday will determine the standpoint of the matter.
Haruna Iddrisu in his argument had insisted that contrary to claims by the chairman of the Committee, members of the Minority on the Committee were not invited to any meeting to discuss the Agreement.
He also raised concerns about the duration of the meeting which agreed and decided on the contract and argued that agreeing a one billion dollar contract in a meeting that lasted only 30 minutes or a little more leaves much to be desired.
He warned that the people of Ghana deserve much more diligence from their representatives on the expenditure of this quantum.
First Majority Whip, Mathew Nyindam who stood in for the Majority leader expressed displeasure at accusations of the Minority.
The side, he said, is simply trying to stampede progress of the House on the agreement.
He argued that enough time was accorded the members and the House in general to study the report.
He said, “The laying of the report was delayed from December 2019 till the House resumed in January 2020 to afford members time to study therefore the excuses of the minority is not tenable.”
“If the majority had wanted to use its numbers to adopt this report we could have done so but we have tried to carry the minority along because of the importance of this project for the people of the Upper regions and the need for compromise from both sides of the House,” he added.
