Bagbin, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu smoke peace pipe after outburst

After an outburst by Speaker of parliament, Alban Bagbin over what he said was an attempt to challenge his powers by Majority Leader in Parliament, the latter has emerged to clarify things.

The Speaker during a parliament sitting on Friday, May 27, 2022, expressed displeasure about actions taken by Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu following comments the former made about parliament being broke a day before.

He warned that he will not accept any contradictions by the Majority Leader about pronouncements he makes in parliament.

“I will not take the Majority Leader always going on air to counter what I say,” he said.

But reacting to this, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has explained that his actions were misinterpreted and miscommunicated to the Speaker.

According to him, he merely stated his knowledge about the release of the said funds by the Controller and Accountant General and in no way intended to disrespect or downplay the Speaker’s concerns.

“I was not in the House, it seems there was some communication mishap on account on which Mr Speaker made some statements relating to some information I had said in the public space.

“I consider it as unfortunate, however, it was borne out of miscommunication and I did not go out there to contradict the Speaker. I spoke to what I knew and I believe that we can move forward as a collective.

“Mr Speaker that is the true position as I did indicate and as I said it was not intended to downwash what the Speaker had put out there,” he added.

He further noted that a channel has been organized for constant engagements with the executive to ensure regular release of funds moving forward and urged that communication is done accordingly to avoid misunderstandings like these.

“My prayer is that leadership and the Speaker will have to invite the Minister for Finance and Controller and Accountant General so that going forward these occasional hitches will not occur,” Mr Mensah-Bonsu explained.

Meanwhile, the Speaker welcomed the proposal by the Majority Leader whilst indicating that the funds – 25 million cedis released formed part of the over 80 million cedis arrears of last year.

Bagbin takes on Kyei-Mensah Bonsu over ‘parliament is broke’ commentsBagbin takes on Kyei-Mensah Bonsu over ‘parliament is broke’ commentshttps://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.517.2_en.html#goog_20527898810 seconds of 4 minutes, 25 secondsVolume 90% 

Background

Mr. Bagbin, while speaking on the floor of parliament on Thursday, May, 26 bemoaned what he said were delays by the Finance Ministry with the release of needed funds for the running of parliament business.

According to him, the House has halted the approval of some financial commitments as a result.

“Parliament is currently being run on arrears and the House should not be treated as one of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs),” Bagbin said.

Following this, Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu expressed disappointment about the development while granting interviews to some media houses on Thursday, suggesting that the Speaker was bringing the government’s name into disrepute.

TWI NEWSBagbin takes on Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu again0 seconds of 1 minute, 1 secondVolume 90% 

During Friday’s sitting, Speaker Alban Bagbin again raised the issue, condemning the Majority Leader’s actions and rebuking him over what he said was an attempt to undermine his authority over the House.