President Frustrated – Says MPs


The second day of the debate on the President’s State of the Nation Address yesterday came to a temporary halt when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for New Juaben South, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah, in his contribution, said President John Mahama was completely frustrated with the management of the economy when he delivered his address, and had to resort to phrases like ‘Order!’ ‘Order!’ ‘tweeaa’ and ‘keep quiet and listen to me.’

He said the President did all that in trying to overcome his frustration.

As soon as the MP said, ‘the President was clearly frustrated,’ some Members on the Majority side, including the Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mahama Ayariga, got up on a point of order to challenge Dr. Assibey-Yeboah to either substantiate his position or completely withdraw the word because according to the Minister, the President did not show any sign of frustration in his delivery of the address.

“Mr. Speaker, my colleague just used the expression ‘the President was frustrated’ and I think he should withdraw the word ‘frustrated’ because the President was never frustrated in delivering his State of the Nation Address as he is claiming,” the Information Minister, who is also the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, charged.

The Minority Chief Whip, Dan Botwe, objected strongly to the position of Mr. Ayariga and said that was the Member’s fair opinion of the President and could not be seen as ‘un-parliamentary’.

The Majority Leader, Dr. Benjamin Kumbuor, said the word ‘frustrated’ could be fair or unfair depending on the premise of the argument, while the NDC MP for Nadowli/Kaleo, Alban Bagbin, also saw it as a fair comment to describe the mood of the President as the New Juaben South MP saw it.

The Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho, eventually saw it as a fair comment and allowed the New Juaben South MP to continue with his contribution.

Dr. Assibey-Yeboah said the President did not tell Ghanaians the truth when he said the fundamentals of the economy were sound, saying that there was a reduced Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 5.5 percent as against the projected 8 percent, while inflation is at 13.8 percent, ‘and that cannot make the economy sound.’

He said the freefall of the cedi was as a result of the high budget deficit of 10.9 percent and the high interest in servicing the nation’s debt.

According to him, the government would be paying GH¢6.1 billion as interest on the country’s huge debt adding that, that had been having a negative impact on the strength of the cedi.

The NPP MP for Bosomtwe, Simon Osei-Mensah, supported the assertion of the New Juaben South MP and said Ghanaians should brace themselves up for more economic hardship.

He said the NDC government had used propaganda to rule and now Ghanaians are bearing the consequences of poor management of the economy.

He noted that the sod-cutting by the President for the construction of the 200 new senior high schools could be another STX in the making.

Mr. Osei-Mensah wondered where the funding for such an ambitious project would come from, arguing that the GETFund, which could have supported the project, ‘is now ailing.’

He also wondered who was going to be directly in charge of the construction of those new secondary schools—whether the presidency, the Ministry of Education, the three ‘wise men’ or the GETFund—stressing that there was no coordinated effort to see those projects coming into being.

The NDC MP for Wa Central and Minister of State at the Presidency, Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo and the NDC MP for Ellembelle and Minister of Energy, Emmanuel Kofi Armah Buah, expressed confidence in the economy and said the President had taken the bull by the horns to address the economic problems facing the country.

Email: [email protected].
 By Thomas Ofosu Jnr

‘President Is Frustrated’ Comment Delays Debate
By Thomas Fosu Jnr
 
The second day of the debate on the President’s State of the Nation Address yesterday came to a temporary halt when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for New Juaben South, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah, in his contribution, said President John Mahama was completely frustrated with the management of the economy when he delivered his address, and had to resort to phrases like ‘Order!’ ‘Order!’ ‘tweeaa’ and ‘keep quiet and listen to me.’

He said the President did all that in trying to overcome his frustration.

As soon as the MP said, ‘the President was clearly frustrated,’ some Members on the Majority side, including the Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mahama Ayariga, got up on a point of order to challenge Dr. Assibey-Yeboah to either substantiate his position or completely withdraw the word because according to the Minister, the President did not show any sign of frustration in his delivery of the address.

“Mr. Speaker, my colleague just used the expression ‘the President was frustrated’ and I think he should withdraw the word ‘frustrated’ because the President was never frustrated in delivering his State of the Nation Address as he is claiming,” the Information Minister, who is also the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, charged.

The Minority Chief Whip, Dan Botwe, objected strongly to the position of Mr. Ayariga and said that was the Member’s fair opinion of the President and could not be seen as ‘un-parliamentary’.

The Majority Leader, Dr. Benjamin Kumbuor, said the word ‘frustrated’ could be fair or unfair depending on the premise of the argument, while the NDC MP for Nadowli/Kaleo, Alban Bagbin, also saw it as a fair comment to describe the mood of the President as the New Juaben South MP saw it.

The Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho, eventually saw it as a fair comment and allowed the New Juaben South MP to continue with his contribution.

Dr. Assibey-Yeboah said the President did not tell Ghanaians the truth when he said the fundamentals of the economy were sound, saying that there was a reduced Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 5.5 percent as against the projected 8 percent, while inflation is at 13.8 percent, ‘and that cannot make the economy sound.’

He said the freefall of the cedi was as a result of the high budget deficit of 10.9 percent and the high interest in servicing the nation’s debt.

According to him, the government would be paying GH¢6.1 billion as interest on the country’s huge debt adding that, that had been having a negative impact on the strength of the cedi.

The NPP MP for Bosomtwe, Simon Osei-Mensah, supported the assertion of the New Juaben South MP and said Ghanaians should brace themselves up for more economic hardship.

He said the NDC government had used propaganda to rule and now Ghanaians are bearing the consequences of poor management of the economy.

He noted that the sod-cutting by the President for the construction of the 200 new senior high schools could be another STX in the making.

Mr. Osei-Mensah wondered where the funding for such an ambitious project would come from, arguing that the GETFund, which could have supported the project, ‘is now ailing.’

He also wondered who was going to be directly in charge of the construction of those new secondary schools—whether the presidency, the Ministry of Education, the three ‘wise men’ or the GETFund—stressing that there was no coordinated effort to see those projects coming into being.

The NDC MP for Wa Central and Minister of State at the Presidency, Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo and the NDC MP for Ellembelle and Minister of Energy, Emmanuel Kofi Armah Buah, expressed confidence in the economy and said the President had taken the bull by the horns to address the economic problems facing the country.

 
Email: [email protected].

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