{"id":450995,"date":"2017-12-30T08:07:42","date_gmt":"2017-12-30T08:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/"},"modified":"2017-12-30T08:07:42","modified_gmt":"2017-12-30T08:07:42","slug":"speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaker summons Parliament over \u2018extortion\u2019 of expatriates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"medsection1\">\n<!-- End of html generated by this->header() --><\/p>\n<p class=\"floatLeft\">General News of Saturday, 30 December 2017<\/p>\n<p class=\"floatRight\"><strong>Source: <\/strong>citifmonline.com<\/p>\n<p>2017-12-30<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-left\">\n<p class=\"article-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/41982335.295.jpg\" alt=\"Mike Oquaye Speaker\" title=\"Mike Oquaye Speaker\" width=\"295\" height=\"162\" \/><span class=\"image_caption\"><span>Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, Speaker of Parliament<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"noPrint\">\n<div id=\"537626303\" style=\"width:300;height:250;margin:0;padding:0\">\n<p>\t\t  <noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"b2ad7fa7fd\" name=\"b2ad7fa7fd\" src=\"http:\/\/ghanaweb-d.openx.net\/w\/1.0\/afr?auid=537626303&amp;cb=151125817929577\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\"><a href=\"\/\/ghanaweb-d.openx.net\/w\/1.0\/rc?cs=b2ad7fa7fd&amp;cb=151125817929577\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/1514621262_781_ai\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/iframe><\/noscript><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"clear:right\">The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye has summoned Parliament for an emergency sitting on Friday, January 5, 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Parliament is being reconvened early after the Minority wrote to the Speaker urging him to call for an emergency sitting over claims that levies were collected by the Ministry of Trade and Industry from expatriates in order for them to be allocated certain seats at the recent Ghana Expatriates Business Awards in Accra<\/p>\n<p>Days after the Minority\u2019s letter to the Speaker, a memo has been issued calling on Members of Parliament to report for sitting in the first week of January, well ahead of the expected resumption date much later in January.<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nThe memo said, \u201cIn pursuance of article 112 (3) of the constitution of the Republic and Orders of Parliament, I Right Honourable Professor Michael Aaron Oquaye, Speaker of Parliament, do hereby summon Parliament to sit on Friday, the 5th Day of January, 2018 at twelve o\u2019clock noon, at Parliament House, Accra.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although the Speaker did not state the reason for the emergency call, the Acting Director of Public Affairs in Parliament, Kate Addo said that the sitting was to consider the Minority\u2019s letter to the Speaker earlier this week.<\/p>\n<p>The Minority alleged that the Trade Ministry levied some expatriates who attended the recently held Ghana Expatriate Business Awards, which had President Akufo-Addo in attendance.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Minority, expatriates were charged between $25,000 and $100,000 to reserve seats at the event.<\/p>\n<p><b>Background<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, first made the allegation in Parliament.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Mubarak said the fees charged at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards (GEBA) were not approved by Parliament, adding that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministry\u2019s accounts.<\/p>\n<p>The issue has further been reinforced by Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Okudzeto Ablakwa, who suffered verbal assaults from Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah over the matter.<\/p>\n<p>The Ministry of Trade and Industry has already dissociated itself from these allegations.<\/p>\n<p>The Trade Ministry, in a statement, said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event, and clarified that it only facilitated the implementation of a new initiative by the Millennium Excellence Foundation.<\/p>\n<p><!-- uploaded by: 32 updated by: -1 --><\/p>\n<p><!-- Start of html generated by this->footer() -->\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a style=\"display:none\" rel=\"follow\" href=\"http:\/\/megatheme.ir\/\" title=\"\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633\">\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>General News of Saturday, 30 December 2017 Source: citifmonline.com 2017-12-30 Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, Speaker of Parliament The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye has summoned Parliament for an emergency sitting on Friday, January 5, 2018. Parliament is being reconvened early after the Minority wrote to the Speaker urging him to call for an emergency [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":399174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-450995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Speaker summons Parliament over \u2018extortion\u2019 of expatriates - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Speaker summons Parliament over \u2018extortion\u2019 of expatriates - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"General News of Saturday, 30 December 2017 Source: citifmonline.com 2017-12-30 Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, Speaker of Parliament The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye has summoned Parliament for an emergency sitting on Friday, January 5, 2018. Parliament is being reconvened early after the Minority wrote to the Speaker urging him to call for an emergency [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/30\\\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/30\\\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Speaker summons Parliament over \u2018extortion\u2019 of expatriates\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-30T08:07:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/30\\\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":392,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/30\\\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/30\\\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/30\\\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/30\\\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\\\/\",\"name\":\"Speaker summons Parliament over \u2018extortion\u2019 of expatriates - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/30\\\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/30\\\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-30T08:07:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/30\\\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/30\\\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Speaker summons Parliament over \u2018extortion\u2019 of expatriates - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Speaker summons Parliament over \u2018extortion\u2019 of expatriates - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"General News of Saturday, 30 December 2017 Source: citifmonline.com 2017-12-30 Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, Speaker of Parliament The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye has summoned Parliament for an emergency sitting on Friday, January 5, 2018. Parliament is being reconvened early after the Minority wrote to the Speaker urging him to call for an emergency [&hellip;]","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Speaker summons Parliament over \u2018extortion\u2019 of expatriates","datePublished":"2017-12-30T08:07:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/"},"wordCount":392,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["Local News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/","name":"Speaker summons Parliament over \u2018extortion\u2019 of expatriates - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2017-12-30T08:07:42+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/12\/30\/speaker-summons-parliament-over-extortion-of-expatriates\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450995\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}