This Week in Parliament

Page 43, Dec 5, 2009 (Mirror)
By Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE debate of the 2010 budget, which engaged the attention of the Members of Parliament (MPs) during the week was spiced up when the House devoted some time to discuss whether the use of the word shame is parliamentary or unparliamentary.
The word “unparliamentary” is used when a member uses a word which is deemed to be offensive and against the rules of the House.
And so when the Minority side shouted shame, shame to show their disapproval of an allegation made by the MP for North Tongu, Mr Charles Hodogbey, his colleague representing Ketu North complained about the usage of the word.
Mr Hodogbey, who stood on a point of order during the submission of the MP for Akropong, Mr W.O Boafo alleged that the past government misapplied monies accrued from the operation of the Ghana Armed Forces during United Nations peacekeeping missions.
When he was asked to substantiate his claim, he could not and on the insistence of the Speaker, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo, Mr Hodogbey withdrew his claim amid shouts of “shame”, “shame” from the Minority side.
The debate that ensued generated keen interest as various contributor s gave their view on the use of the word in the House.
The Majority Leader, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin reminded the House that the late former Speaker, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey gave a ruling against the use of the word in the House.
He explained that it would be proper if members refrained from the use of the word since it discouraged MPs from withdrawing their submissions when such submissions were deemed “unparliamentary”.
Although, the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu supported the assertion by his colleague, the Majority Leader, he added that it would, however, not be out of place if the word was used to reform an MP who consistently misleads the House.
For his part, the Second Deputy Speaker and MP for Dome/Kwabenya, Professsor Mike Oquaye said the use of the word shame was very common in the British Parliament to show the disapproval of the House of misbehavior of MPs.
After a thorough debate of the issue, Mrs Bamford-Addo ruled that it would not be out of place for the word to be used to show the temperament of the House during debates saying that MPs should have the thick skin to withstand the use of that word.
Meanwhile after a heated debate on the budget, the House unanimously approved the document, which was presented to the House by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor on November 18, 2009 on Wednesday.
In another development, the House also devoted part of their time during the week to discuss this year’s National Farmers’ Day and commended the country’s gallant farmers for their contributions to the country’s development.
In his statement on Wednesday, Dr Alhassan Yakubu, MP for Mion noted that the Farmers Day was a very important event for the reason that “our development must be agriculture led since this is a sector that stands as the largest employment sector, foreign exchange earner and the highest contributor the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)”.
He stated that 25 years after the inception of the day, the time had come for the review of the award scheme to include permanent training schemes for all award winners in agricultural training institutions.
Dr Alhassan noted that knowledge acquired in practical agricultural technology skills would equip the award winners to enable them train other farmers in their communities.
He suggested the establishment of a multi-purpose agricultural technology village to serve as a centre of excellence where farmers and the people in the agriculture sector could acquire practical knowledge and skills in modern and improved methods in the industry for enhanced growth and productivity.
Dr Alhassan also commended past and present governments for making various interventions available to farmers adding that farmers still needed easy access to long-term favourable credit facilities, ready markets, easy access to agricultural machinery, across board subsidization of farming inputs and access to extension services.