The Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, has made an appeal to the Parliamentary Service Board to, as a matter of urgency, change the spectacles of the Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu.
He said this in reacting to the claim by the Majority Leader on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, that the Ningo-Prampram legislator, plus some four other MPs from the Minority side of the House, has been absent and that was why the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, was dragging the vote on the approval of the 2024 Budget Statement and Economic Policy.
On the day, after tensions rose and tempers flared on the floor of parliament after the Deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Armarh Kofi Buah, challenged the Speaker’s decision that the ‘Ayes’ had the vote on the approval of the budget.
In place of that mode of voting, he rather called for a headcount, which, Alban Bagbin agreed to, leading to the Majority MPs objecting and making several defences on why the Speaker should not resort to that.
With time, led by the Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, the MPs on that side stagged a walkout from the House.
It was after this that the MPs addressed the press, during which Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu mentioned Sam Nartey George’s name, plus others on his side, as being the reason the vote did not go through.
But in a quick response, Sam George told the press that it appears it is Majority Leader needs fixing with his eyes.
“I think that we need to change the spectacles that the Majority Leader, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, uses. I’m making an appeal to the Parliamentary Service Board to change his spectacles because clearly, he cannot see. I mean, I am here, except there are three Sam Georges: one in New York, one in Ningo-Prampram, and one in Parliament.
“But I’m here. I’ve been here since morning. For those of you who were in the Chamber when the people from Hon Kpodo's constituency, Ho Central, came, when the Speaker introduced them, I asked the Speaker who is the speaker of that group? And the Speaker asked and a gentleman in blue suit raised his hands. I was in the Chamber this morning, from beginning of proceedings,” he defended.
Sam Nartey George further stated that it appears he has become the lowest hanging fruits for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to use when it was to blame anyone for anything, including the declining economy.
“So, for Kyei to use me as an excuse why the NPP in parliament is running away from their own budget. (Speaks Twi to wit, ‘Sam George has suffered in Ghana o’). First and foremost, I’ve been accused for why Ghana has been downgraded in its ratings. They say because of my anti-LGBTQ Bill, that has been downgraded.
“Now Sam George is the reason why the Majority is walking out on their budget. Sam George is very powerful,” he stressed.
The House was unable to conclude on the vote on the approval of the 2024 budget on Wednesday, with expectations that it will be determined on Thursday, November 30, 2023.
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Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.
