Attempt to transact E-Levy in parliament without prior notice arrested by minority

 The minority NDC in parliament requested for the house to adjourn sitting for Friday until Tuesday, the 1st of February when the majority leader wanted the house to debate the second reading of the electronic transfer levy bill 2021.

The minority leader Haruna Idrisu argued that the E-Levy was not on the agenda for the week, therefore, the majority leader Honourable Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu can not pull a surprise on the house. 

Also, the Adaklu MP Honourable Governance Kwame Agbodza made an application to the speaker to adjourn the sitting since some of the members have been in the house for over nine hours waiting for the business to commence but to no avail. 

He lamented that, earlier in the morning, an announcement was made that, sitting was going to be shifted to 2:00 pm instead of the 10:00 am, later, another announcement stated that, sitting will be held at 4:00 pm which did not materialise. 
 
Responding to the claims by the minority, Mr Kyei Mensah Bonsu explained reasons that kept House long before commencing on the day's proceedings and that, after several consultations on the controversial Electronic Transfer Levy Bill (E-Levy) yesterday, the normal sitting of the House has to be delayed from the agreed 10:00 am to 5 pm to get all documentation ready for a decision on the E-LEVY be taken.

Upon all the explanations from the majority leader, some sections from the  Minority which include their leadership started complaining about their long sitting in the House, that is from the morning to that particular evening and therefore called on the 1st Deputy Speaker, Mr Joseph Osei Owusu who was in the seat to bring the proceedings of the House to a close.

Majority leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu suggested to the Speaker for a 45 minutes suspension of the House to allow members to go for supper and return to the chamber for the debate on E-Levy commence but most members from the minority disagreed with the leader's proposal but rather insisted on adjournment of the House.

The minority leader Haruna Iddrisu also refused to accept the proposal by  Mr Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu but insisted that matters on the E-LEVY including its debate should be done next week as scheduled already or else, when the House touch it, they will continue and complete everything on it the same night without waiting for Speaker Bagbin.

After listening to the concerns of members, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Joseph Osei Owusu who was in the chair adjourned the proceedings of the House base on advice from the Majority leader since the minority was not ready to work on in the extended hours with the assurance that, issues on the E-LEVY would be revisited on Tuesday when the House resumes.

Emmanuel Kwaku Ansah