Parliament approves 2016 budget

Parliament last Wednesday approved the 2016 budget and financial policy of the government. During the contribution of the Majority Leader, Mr Alban Bagbin, to the debate on the budget, however,  proceedings degenerated when he referred to some members of the Minority who were making catcalls and cacophonous noises to drown his contribution as hotheads.

The statement angered members of the Minority, many of who rose to their feet and flung their hands at him and other members of the Majority calling them names.

Members of the Majority did likewise, and for a few minutes, there were loud confusing disagreeable noises in the House with both sides shouting at each other.

The member for Atwima Mponua, Mr Isaac Asiamah, one of the members referred to as a " hothead" was particularly angered by the statement and pointed fingers at Mr Bagbin from where he sat and asked " Who do you think you are? "

The Speaker, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho,  in a bid to stamp his authority on members, threatened to point out individuals making the noise and order the Marshall of Parliament to remove them from the chamber.

He observed that many members had misconducted themselves during the contributions on the floor and reminded them that the whole world was watching what was going on in the House.

When calm finally returned, Mr Bagbin was made to withdraw his reference to some of the members as "hot-heads".

Debate

Mr Bagbin referred to the budget statement as good for Ghana and a policy which would take the nation a step further to achieve a just and free society for Ghana.

"If a person decides that he will not be comfortable, we cannot make him comfortable," he said, adding that in the seven years that the National Democratic Congress ( NDC ) had been in power, no state asset had been sold to save the economy from collapse.

He said since the party took over the reins of government, agriculture had grown from -1.7 per cent to 0.04 per cent.

Access to potable water, he said, had increased tremendously to about 70 per cent.

Those achievements, among many other things, he said, were signs that the right policies were being pursued.

The Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, on his part reiterated some of the issues raised by the Minority in their press conference in reaction to the budget and some of the statements made by Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in his press conference recently.