Ministers to appear before Parliament on Ebola response centre

Two ministers of state, Ms Hanna Serwaah Tetteh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, and Dr Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah, Minister of Health, are to appear before two Select Committees of Parliament to explain the circumstances leading to the country’s choice as the centre for Ebola response in the sub-region.

Specifically, the two ministers will meet with the Select Committees on Foreign Affairs and Health, before the House reconvenes later this month or early November.

The aim is to apprise the committees of conditions that led to the decision, the current situation at the centre and the implications of the decision on Ghana among other concerns.

The decision to call the two ministers follows a concern raised on the floor of Parliament about the implications of using Ghana as an Ebola response centre, and the need for the House to be officially and adequately informed about all activities relating to that decision.

After sharing the anxiety during a two-day emergency sitting convened last week, the Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Edward Doe Adjaho, informed the House that the two ministers would be called to appropriately brief them.

President

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Deputy Majority Leader of Parliament and MP for Ashaiman, Mr Alfred Kwame Agbesi, said as an Executive President, Mr John Mahama did not have to inform different organs before taking action.

“So the Executive President, in his own view and in his position as the Chairman of ECOWAS, decided that action, which later was brought to the notice of Parliament.”

“Once the matter was raised on the floor of the House, the Speaker was bound to take a decision. In this case, when the matter was raised, the Speaker agreed and to allay the fears of the members, he referred the matter to the leadership, which agreed that the ministers of Foreign Affairs and Health must come and brief the House,” he added.

Mr Agbesi said it was because of the urgency of the matter and the fact that Parliament would be reconvening in some weeks that the Speaker, in his own wisdom, asked the two ministers to appear before the two committees, which would later inform the House when it reconvened.

Saying that waiting for Parliament to reconvene may be too late to deal with the issue, the Deputy Majority Leader added that the Speaker directed the two ministers “to brief the two committees in the presence of the leaders of the House, so that if the leadership thinks that the briefing needs further action, then when we come back that will be done.”

He said in view of the commitment to the cause, the leadership of Parliament had pledged to make themselves available for the meeting.

Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh