Truant Oti Bless was silent in parliament for two years - Report
John Oti Bless
There are reports that John Oti Bless, who recently stirred controversy during his parliamentary vetting, is one of Ghana’s ineffective parliamentarians.
Read full articleA fact-finding report published by blog.odekro.org reveals that the NKwanta North MP is a notable absentee from parliamentary proceedings.
The data shows that Mr Oti Bless missed 17 meetings of the second 2013 parliamentary session without the written permission of Speaker Edward Doe-Adjaho.
Such offence, the report states, is punishable by the Speaker declaring his seat vacant and a by-election held to elect a new MP.
The deputy Local Government Minister-designate, whose nomination has roundly been criticised by civil society groups, was generally a silent observer during the period, based on a January 2013 - March 2016 database.
“Mr Oti Bless’ only statement during the 38-month period was when he once sheepishly stood up on the floor of the House to correct his name in the Order Paper," according to the report.
The data further shows that the Nkwanta North MP failed to attend parliamentary sittings regularly and made no significant contribution on the floor of Parliament between 2013 and 2015.
John Oti Bless was part of the panel on Montie FM who threatened the lives of the Chief Justice and other Supreme Court justices.
The Nkwanta North MP subsequently apologised to the judiciary after intense pressure from Parliament.
