Minority abtains from petroleum accord

Page 14, July 2, 2009
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Minority in Parliament have abstained from a resolution by the House to endorse a petroleum agreement among the government, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Vanco Ghana Limited and LUKOIL Overseas Ghana Limited.
The agreement was for the conduct of exploration and production operations in the Offshore Cape Three Points Deep Water Block.
The Minority had, however, last Friday taken part in the motion in the House as part of the process for the approval of the agreement.
The Majority Leader, Mr Alban Bagbin, last Friday called on the House to defer the resolution for the endorsement of the agreement to this week.
But when the matter came before the House on Tuesday, the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said although the Minority supported the agreement in principle, they would abstain from voting for the resolution.
He explained that the Minority found it wrong for Nana Boakye Asafo-Adjaye who was the Country Director of Vanco to preside over the agreement, now in his capacity as the acting Managing Director of the GNPC.
“Mr Speaker, I want it to be on record that we members of the Minority abstained from taking part in the resolution although in principle, we are not against the agreement”, he said.
Replying, Mr Bagbin said he was surprised about the turn of events, stating that there was a clear indication that the Minority would support the resolution after they had taken part in the motion.
He stated that the reason that the Minority Leader had ascribed for their intention to abstain from the resolution which was about conflict of interest could be decided by the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
When he caught the Speaker’s eye, the First Deputy Speaker and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ave-Avenor, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, also expressed “shock” about the decision of the Minority and called on the Majority Leader to defer the resolution for further consultations.
The Speaker, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo, explained that voting for the resolution could go on even if the Minority abstained from the exercise.
When Mr Bagbin took the floor again, he called on the Speaker to proceed to put the question for the House to resolve to approve the agreement.
When the Speaker finally put the question, the Majority side responded with yes while there was a deafening silence on the Minority side.
Meanwhile the Editor of the Lens newspaper, Mr Kobby Fiagbe, has apologised to Parliament for describing MPs as “a den of thieves” in one of the recent editions of his paper.
His publication followed an allegation that some members of the Communication Sub-Committee of Parliament demanded monies from communication service operators when they paid them a working visit.
Mr Fiagbe was said to have rendered the apology when he appeared before the Privileges Committee of Parliament, which is chaired by Mr Adjaho.
The matter was referred to the committee by the Speaker when the Minority Chief Whip and MP for Suhum, Mr Frederick Opare-Ansah, formally made the complaint on the floor of Parliament.
A source told the Daily Graphic that Mr Fiagbe explained to the committee that his story was not intended to tarnish the image of MPs and rendered an unqualified apology.
The Privileges Committee did not however come out with its decision on the matter after its sitting.