John Boadu, NPP general secretary

The general secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) says the Speaker of Parliament has been passing comments that sometimes are strictly unnecessary

John Boadu, the general secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) says the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin is only a beneficiary of a position he never worked for; the reason for some of his comments in recent times.

According to him, comments from the Speaker of Parliament indicating that he (Alban Bagbin) has the “powers to remove the president but the president cannot remove him” is unfortunate and serves no purpose.

“The Speaker as we all know is only benefitting from what he didn’t work for and as a result, he has been passing comments that sometimes are strictly unnecessary. For instance, he passed a comment that he has the capacity to impeach or remove the president and the president cannot remove you (Alban Bagbin) is totally unnecessary because he forgets that as a Speaker, he doesn’t even have a vote.”

“So, on what basis is he saying that or he’s going to supervise a distorted proposal for impeachment or what? I think it’s time he recognises that he’s benefitting from something he didn’t work for,” he stated.

Road tolls

On the suspension road tolls, Boadu stated that although Parliament has the sole responsibility to enact or suspend laws, the government also has the responsibility to institute administrative measures to curb any form of confusion and conflicts that will emerge as a result of the policies of the government.

“With the removal of road tolls, I think strictly and technically speaking, it is Parliament that enacts and suspend laws so nobody is lost to it. But in the interim as we wait for Parliament, particularly when the government has put in a proposal of a reduction or zero-rated tolls, for instance, it is necessary for the government to put in administrative measures in other not to create confusion. Because if the minister had not operationalised the non-collection of tolls at that time, there’ll have been a lot of confusion at our toll booths,” he said.

Cessation of road tolls

The Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako Attah directed the cessation of road tolls effective Thursday, 18 November 2021.

This followed an announcement by the government that abolished all tolls on public roads and bridges in the 2022 Budget Statement.

However, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin directed the Roads and Highways Minister to reverse the directive on the cessation of road tolls until Parliament provides appropriate legislation.

According to the Speaker, the minister lacks the legal mandate to issue such a directive and has suggested that the minister initiates legislation under a certificate of urgency to seek the approval of the House