Politics of Saturday, 7 October 2017

Source: peacefmonline.com

'Incompetent' NPP government can’t even put together a simple bill - NDC MP

Hon. Isaac Adongo, NDC Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central Hon. Isaac Adongo, NDC Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central

NDC Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central in the Upper East Region, Hon. Isaac Adongo has described the 9-month old government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as too incompetent to fulfill promises made to Ghanaians.

According to him, the poor work by the Attorney General, the office of the President and Cabinet on the Zongo Development Fund Bill will make it impossible for the Zongos to see development this year as captured in the 2017 budget.

Speaking on Okay FM’s 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, the NDC lawmaker insisted Akufo-Addo’s government has been sleeping on the Zongo Development Fund bill till Parliament resumed work, without coming up with the proper bill for Parliament to work on.

He indicated that Parliament earlier rejected the bill on the Zongo Development Fund due to the improper way it was prepared.

“The Attorney-General is responsible to make sure the Zongo Development Fund becomes a reality this year . . . they have been sleeping till Parliament resumed work. Do you know they brought the bill to Parliament and we asked them to withdraw it because the bill was not properly laid?”

“When they relaid that bill, we met at Koforidua last Monday to look at that bill, the Attorney-General had added 97 Amendments to the bill which has passed through her office and submitted to Cabinet, and legal opinion has been written to approve to Parliament to work with. The Attorney-General again wrote to the Speaker requesting that the bill she brought before the House, Parliamentarians should go through it and act on 97 Amendments,” he indicated.

He reiterated that the 97 Amendments means the government was not ready before it brought the bill to Parliament; wondering whether the Attorney-General looked into the bill before she submitted it to Parliament.

" . . what kind of work was done on the bill before they submitted to Parliament to work on?" he asked.

He was of the view that the Attorney-General has disappointed the government over the poor review of the bill before submitting to Parliament; adding that it may be a deceptive move by the government on the Zongo Development Fund.

"This government is so incompetent that they cannot put together a simple bill. This means that in 2017, we will not get anything for the Zongo development and Ghana will run at a loss”, he indicated.