The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, has directed Parliament to exert pressure on the committee that is supposed to advise him on the appointment of four individuals to serve on the Parliamentary Service Board (PSB).
He said the advice of the members of the committee should reach his office on or before Friday, March 26, failure of which he would interpret it as an attempt to obstruct the performance of the Speaker.
According to him, until the committee recommended the names of individuals who were to be appointed on the PSB, he could not, on his own accord, proceed to appoint the members since that would constitute a breach of the 1992 Constitution.
“I am not a Member of Parliament and so I need you to be able to function. You may need to go back and consider the committee that you set up or put pressure on the committee to submit the advice of the House on who those members are. Then I will proceed to do the appointment, we will inaugurate the board and we will proceed to work,” he stated.
Attempt to obstruct
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Mr Bagbin said: “Since I became the Speaker, Parliament’s committee has not given me any advice and I do not want to do this thing on a confrontation with Parliament”.
“And I agree that the advice should reach my office on or before Friday this week. Failure to receive that advice, Mr Speaker will proceed to interpret it as an attempt to obstruct the Speaker from performing his duty and Mr Speaker will proceed to do what Mr Speaker considers right,” he said.
The Speaker gave the directive after some MPs had raised concerns over the absence of the PSB, a situation which was severely affecting the functions of the Legislature, and sought to ascertain from the Speaker what was frustrating him in the performance of his functions.
The MPs included the Members of Parliament (MPs) for Banda, Mr Ibrahim Ahmed and Bawku Central, Mr Mahama Ayariga, both of whom belong to the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Who are to be PSB members?
The PSB comprises of the Speaker as the Chairman, the Clerk-to-Parliament, the Majority and Minority Leaders, one sitting MP and a former MP.
Refusal to advise
The Speaker said the committee which was supposed to advise him on the appointment of members to the PSB had so far failed and refused toperform their duty since he became Speaker.
He said he had made several follow-ups for the advice of the committee but “as of today, the advice is not yet before me”.
“I have been contemplating proceeding to appoint and then your committee or yourselves will take me to court to say that I do not have that authority. But we need to have the Parliamentary Service Board in place,” he stressed.
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