At the start of proceedings on Thursday, November 30, 2023, where parliament will once again try to conclude its vote on whether or not to approve the 2024 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, only three MPs from the Majority side are in the House.
These Members of Parliament are the leadership of the side: Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu; Deputy Majority leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin; the Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh Dompreh; and the Deputy Chief Whip, Habib Iddrisu and
It will be recalled that GhanaWeb's Nimatu Yakubu Atouyese reported that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, had to suspend sitting on Wednesday, November 29, when the House concluded debates on the budget, and was supposed to subsequently vote to pass the bill.
However, there was moment when the Speaker sought to rule on the voice vote in favour of those who said the ‘Ayes’ but he was timeously challenged by the Deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Armarh Kofi Buah.
In his challenge, he disagreed that Bagbin should go with the voice vote, but rather use a headcount instead.
The Speaker of Parliament then agreed to it, but that started another long and tensed moment in the House, with MPs from the Majority side, equally objecting to the suggestion by their colleague Leader on the other side.
With time, as tempers flared, the Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, led a surprise walkout from the House, followed by his other colleagues.
Alban Bagbin had to eventually suspended sitting altogether.
It is yet to be seen if that determination on the status of the budget will be made on Thursday, November 30.
Meanwhile, catch this eye-opening conversation Etsey Atisu had with Nana Prah Agyensaim VI about how he came to have the cleanest town in Ghana, on People & Places on GhanaWeb TV, below:
The three leaders of the Majority side in the House