The Minister for Communications, Samuel Nartey George says Parliament’s lack of quorum, for which business could not be conducted during its last sitting needs more context.
Sam George has explained that although the Majority has the numbers to conduct business even without the Minority, over a hundred of new parliamentarians are currently struggling with accommodation. This, he said is affecting many new MPs’ ability to commute to parliament regularly.
According to him, the parliamentary service needs to do more public engagement to clarify such issues, especially regarding quorum.
“You’ve got a large contingent. In fact, of the 188 there about that we have sitting in the majority, just 28, if I’m not mistaking, are from Greater Accra. So you have about a hundred and sixty that are from outside Greater Accra. Of that 160, just about 45 or 50 are returning MPs. So you have a contingent of over a hundred new MPs who were not residents in Accra, have won the election and now trying to get accommodation.”
“I keep saying that the parliamentary service needs to do more public engagements to explain the challenges that we were seeing currently in parliament with the numbers,” he said on JoyNews’ Newsfile on January 8, 2025.
Moreover, it is more difficult trying to find accommodation in close proximity to parliament. This, according to the Minister, makes the situation even more challenging for the MPs.
In response to whether or not parliament is responsible for the provision of accommodation for MPs, Sam George clarified that MPs are responsible for their own accommodation, although they “would get an advance against your salary. Because very public servant is entitled to about 10% of your basic as your salary allowance. So you would get an advance in the next few weeks.” But he explained that MPs cannot afford to keep waiting for the advance allowance.
According to Sam George, the situation is serious to the extent that some MPs he know reside with friends and in hotels for the interim. MPs are caught between such a situation and having to deal with parliamentary duties, says the minister.
He is hoping that MPs would be able to settle down in the next two weeks so that parliamentary business would be in full swing.
Meanwhile, MPs are also having to appear before a parliament’s committee set to probe a recent violent incident at the vetting proceedings of ministerial nominees. This, according to Sam George coincides with parliamentary businesses, thereby inhibiting parliament’s ability to form quorum for business. He admits that the calls for a constitutional review are justified, in that it would help address some of these issues.
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