President Nana Akufo-Addo will deliver his second State of the Nation Address to parliament on Thursday, February 8, 2018 – all things being equal.

This was made known by the majority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, in his welcoming address when parliament reconvened yesterday. It is expected to go on recess again on March 22, 2018 for the Easter Holidays.

The majority leader said that the first meeting of this session would be hectic because of the limited time and the load of work on hand.

He therefore pleaded with all Members of Parliament (MPs) to fully participate in the business of the house and desist from absenting themselves from work.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu also announced that leadership of parliament had agreed to extend the duration of the special ad hoc committee – popularly known as ‘Cash for Seat’ committee – that is probing alleged extortion of money from expatriate businesspeople to sit by President Akufo-Addo during last year’s Expatriate Awards.

“We have decided to extend the special committee’s mandate to 31st January, 2018, to enable them complete their work and present their report to the plenary,” he disclosed.

The minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu, noted that absenteeism had become the bane of the current parliament, stressing that it does not send good signal to the citizens when proceedings of the house are telecast on national television and only a few MPs are spotted.

The minority leader appealed to fellow MPs to learn how they could marry their constituency engagements with the business of the house so that as much as possible, they would always be regular in parliament to participate in government business.

Mr Iddrisu also entreated the various parliamentary committees to regularly engage with the people in the discharge of their duties so that they can make representative reports to the plenary.

The first deputy speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, who assumed the full responsibility of Speaker Prof Mike Oquaye after his (Oquaye’s) elevation to the position of acting president – in the absence of President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Bawumia – spoke about the lackadaisical attitude of some MPs to the work of parliament.

According to him, it is important for all MPs to be present in parliament and fully participate in the governance of the country.

Some of the bills that would be considered during this session include the Legal Aid Commission Bill (2017), the Taxation (use of Fiscal Electronic Devices) Bill (2017) and the Standards for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information Bill (2017).

Five new bills – Legal Profession (Amendment) (2018), Ghana Technology University College (2018), Sugar (2018), Business Regulatory Reform (2018) and SME Development (2018) – will also be brought to parliament for consideration and passage.