13 August 2008
editorial
Parliamentarians who are currently on recess were called back from their various constituencies across the country yesterday to debate and possibly ratify the much talked about sale agreement between Ghana Telecom and Vodafone International Holding. Parliament had earlier failed to ratify the deal before going on recess.
Prior to the recall of the members of the august House, the sale of GT had generated heated debates across the country. It was therefore not surprisingly when the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) and other civil society groups, including some opposition elements, decided to stage a demonstration on the premises of parliament to put pressure on members of parliament to reject the deal.
Unfortunately, the much-anticipated debate, like the previous one could not come on due to a number of factors. Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, the majority chief whip who spoke to Joy Fm yesterday, said the debate had to be rescheduled because a number of amendments had been made to the previous agreement that was submitted to the house. He said, for instance the 999 years, which appeared on the first agreement as the leasing period has now been changed to 50years.
According to him, the deal should have been sealed before July 24th, but since this was not done they had to go back to reframe the agreement with the deadline now extended to August 15th. In view of this new development, parliament has referred the whole agreement back to the Joint Committee on Finance and Communication for them to study and later submit their report to the floor of the house for debate.
The reasons assigned by the Majority chief whip for their failure to debate the deal raises a number of fundamental questions. First, whether it was reasonable for the house to reconvene when the due process for the ratification of the deal had not been completed. One would also be tempted to ask whether the Speaker of Parliament, who controls the House was adequately briefed about the development, before the Clerk of parliament came out with notice about the emergency meeting.
Though we concede that the House dealt with other business laid before it, we think what happened yesterday was a waste of the taxpayer's money. Is it important to stress that Hon. Kojo Armah, who is the chairman of the Communication Committee stated in an interview he granted to Joy fm that he was not aware of the amendment that had been made to the original agreement, and he had to abandon business in his constituencys to debate on the issue.
We are not pessimists but if care is not taken parliament will be stampeded to ratify a deal that members may not have adequate information about. We are saying this because from what we deduced from comments made by the Majority Chief Whip, the Joint Committee on Finance and Communication would have just one day to study the revised agreement and take a decision on it, which is very unfortunate.
The Chronicle would therefore like to appeal to the leadership of parliament to give members ample time to carefully study the agreement and come back to the house to take an informed decision. The Chronicle is neither for nor against the sale of GT. What we want is a decision that would be in the best interest of the country. We hope the powers that be are listening to us.
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