I Swear By The Heavens, Parliament Never Approved Allowance For 1st And 2nd Ladies – Ablakwa

Lawmaker for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has stated that Parliament never had the chance to approve salaries for the first and second lady.

In an interview on Okay FM, Mr Ablakwa swore by the heavens that the Prof Ntiamoa Baidu Committee report never got to Parlaiment, not to talk of deliberating on it.

His comment comes after Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah claimed the Presidential spouse salary got an approval from Parliament.

Oppong Nkrumah is quoted to have said, “The President does approve salaries and benefits for the Executive. Under Article 71, the First Lady and Second Lady are not office-holders so no one can determine their benefits under that article…However, a committee only recommended that an arrangement for the spouses be made formal and that received approval from Parliament.”

However, Mr Ablakwa insists parliament never did that.

“The Heavens can bear me witness I was a member of the seventh parliament and I did not see any committee’s report so I don’t even know where this claim of parliamentary approval is coming from because our standing orders is clear. Before the House approves something, members of parliament must have a copy and I can tell you authoritatively that no member of the house has a copy of the committee’s report,” he was quoted by peacefmonline.

“I challenge anybody who claims otherwise to come out to dispute what i’m saying. Parliament is a house of records and that is why we should not be joking with certain things,” he fumed.

Source: GhanaFeed.com