Parliament is to reconvene on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 to commence the second meeting of the first session of the eighth Parliament.

The Parliamentary Service has, therefore, informed all members and staff of Parliament to take due notice of the commencement of the meeting which will begin at 10 a.m.

This was contained in a statement issued on May 10, 2021, and signed by the Clerk-to-Parliament, Mr Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah.

“The Parliamentary Service wishes to inform all honourable members and staff that the Rt Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, in pursuance of Standing Order 37 has directed Parliament to commence sitting of the second meeting of the first session of the eighth Parliament on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 at 10 a.m. in the forenoon at Parliament House, Accra”, the statement said.

Agenda

The House, which started sitting on January 7, 2021, went on recess on March 10, 2021.

While the statement did not spell out some of the agenda the House may consider during the next sitting, one of the major issues the House may pay attention to will be the commencement of the vetting and approval of the President’s deputy ministerial nominees by the Appointments Committee of Parliament.

The committee will also undertake the vetting and approval of the Special Prosecutor nominee, Mr Kissi Agyebeng, as well as the report by the nine-member committee the Speaker set up to probe the petition by the founders of the defunct UT Bank and uniBank Ghana Limited over the collapse of their banks.

The committee, chaired by the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, was tasked to commence its probe into the petition while Parliament was on recess.

The committee is expected to submit its report to the House at the commencement of Parliament.

Members of committee

The members of the committee include the Deputy Majority Leader, Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin; the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Essikado, Mr Joe Ghartey; the NPP MP for Okaikwei Central, Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah, and the NPP MP for Abuakwa South, Mr Samuel Atta-Akyea.

The rest are the Deputy Minority Leader, Mr James Klutse Avedzi; the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson; the NDC MP for Bolgatanga Central, Mr Isaac Adongo, and the NDC MP for Techiman North, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare.

What are the two seeking?

Per the petition, the two founders — Dr Kwabena Duffour and Mr Prince Kofi Amoabeng — are appealing to Parliament to investigate the conduct of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) in the revocation of the licences of the banks in 2018.

They claim that the central bank revoked the licences of the two banks without due regard to the rules of due process as guaranteed under Article 23 of the Constitution.

They, therefore, want Parliament to direct the restoration of the banking licences and the remedying of the harm done the property rights of the shareholders as a result of the conduct of the central bank, as well as give any other directive the House may deem appropriate.

Other matters

The House will also consider loan agreements, bills as well as the report by the Local Government Committee on the effective utilisation of various projects funded by the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) for the six new regions in the country.