The Majority Caucus in Parliament has challenged Speaker Alban S.K. Bagbin on a directive he issued to the Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Atta, that he has no authority to order a cessation of the collection of road tolls.
According to the Majority, per the Standing Orders of Parliament, the Speaker is an arbiter when the House is sitting and therefore erred in his ruling in directing the minister.
Speaking to journalists after the directive, Majority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh argued that anytime there should be a directive from Parliament as an arm of government, it has to convey a consensus position of the House.
He stated that the Speaker should have made a referral to the Roads Committee, which would then have engaged the Minister further and brought things up for a better appreciation.
Mr Annoh-Dompreh addressed the media after a banter on the floor of the House yesterday, further arguing that the Speaker is not a member of Parliament and has no persona in the matter.
The Roads Minister, he said, acted in good faith when he issued a directive for the cessation of the collection of the road tolls in order to avert a chaotic situation because people had massed up at various toll booths across the country.
Background
Speaker Alban Bagbin issued the directive after Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu, had raised concern over the press release from the Roads Ministry stopping collection of road tolls after the presentation of the 2022 budget statement with immediate effect.
The Speaker stressed that the Minister for Roads has no authority to issue such a directive ordering the cessation of the collection of the road tolls.
According to him, the 2022 Budget that the Roads Minister claimed to have acted upon to issue the directive is only a policy proposal of the government and until it is approved by Parliament, it cannot be implemented.
“So it is for us to draw his attention and tell him that he has no such authority. It is very clear what the Minister sought to do, he has no such authority to do that.
“So what the Minister has released is complete ‘brutum fulmen’. It means it is an empty boast, it has no effects,” he said.
The Minority leader had earlier argued the Road Ministry’s directive is an attempt to usurp the powers and mandate of Parliament and demanded the House to take a strong view on the press release.
He noted that even as the Minister is in a hurry to listen to the President’s directive, he cannot be in a hurry to usurp the mandate of Parliament and revise legislation that the House has not been approved.
The Road Minister’s release, he said, suggest the country is not governed by law and that this cannot be allowed to go unchecked.
“Not its principles, not its objectives let alone talk about the consequential legislation that may be required of him.
“Mr. Speaker, in order that we don’t create a society of lawlessness, I would simply have said that the Ghanaian public should ignore him because what he is doing is clearly against the letter and spirit of the law,” he added.
