Parliament Probes World Cup Rot


He wants the House to set up a bi-partisan Parliamentary committee of enquiry to investigate events and activities before, during and after Ghana’s preparation and participation in the just-ended World Cup in Brazil.

The enquiry, it was stressed, should be bipartisan, despite a three-member committee set up by President Mahama to look into events surrounding Ghana’s participation in the tournament.

The Minority NPP in Parliament, after Ghana’s World Cup debacle, organised a press conference and told the House the need to institute such an enquiry, arguing that the events in Brazil had not only brought disgrace to Ghanaians, but also brought the image of the country into great disrepute.

‘As Ghanaians, we want answers to how many public servants used state funds to go to Brazil, how much in total was spent on each supporter, how many officials government sponsored to Brazil, how much government spent on the so-called ‘ambassadors’, why government failed to pay the appearance fees before the departure as promised, how much did government give to each supporter for accommodation and meals per day in Brazil and how much did it cost government to airlift $3 million cash to Brazil,’ the Minority said at the press briefing.

The debate on the motion, which is expected to be dispassionate, could even spill over to the latest development in which over 200 supposed government-sponsored Ghanaians to Brazil for the World Cup have decided to seek political asylum in that country.

The Majority Leader and Chairman of the Business Committee of Parliament, Br Benjamin Kunbuor, said because of the importance of the motion, the House would want to use the whole of today to discuss it.

He indicated that since football is the passion of Ghanaians and also remains the only tool that has always united the nation, MPs would be required to debate the issue, devoid of partisan colouring.

Apart from today, Parliamentarians are expected to be very busy throughout the week ending Friday, July18, because the Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, would be expected to also move a motion for the adoption of the mid-year review of the 2014 budget statement and economic policy of the government.

The Finance Minister, who would be in Parliament on Wednesday to fulfill that constitutional requirement, would brief the House on  what had caused the huge arrears in the payment of statutory funds such as the Common Fund, National Health Insurance Fund and the GETFund.

The Minister of the Interior, Kwesi Ahwoi, has also been summoned to brief Parliamentarians on the security situation at Bimbilla in the Northern Region where violence, resulting from chieftaincy dispute, had led to the death of some people in the area.

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By Thomas Fosu Jnr
 

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