The third session of the eighth Parliament is expected to begin at 10 a.m. today, Tuesday, February 7, 2023.
Following the passage of the 2023 Appropriation Bill, the House went into recess for the Christmas season in December 2022.
The Minority side of the House is expected to have new leadership in the new session.
Haruna Iddrisu has been replaced as Minority Leader by Cassiel Ato-Forson.
As part of the leadership changes, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembelle, took over as Deputy Minority Leader from Ketu North MP, James Klutse Avedzi, and Kwame Governs Agbodza took over as Minority Chief Whip from Asawase MP, Muntaka Mubarak.
Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, is also expected to admit papers, petitions, motions for debate, and questions for sector ministers to answer during this meeting.
Before the House rose, it added two new loans to Ghana’s already-distressed economy, which is seeking IMF assistance and is currently negotiating tumultuous debt exchange programs with domestic and international creditors.
According to the House, a loan of 30 million Euros has been authorized to finance the “Government Goes Solar Project,” and another loan of 116 million Euros has been authorized to finance the “330kv Accra-Kumasi Transmission Line Project.”
Despite Ghana’s precarious debt situation, which is said to have reached an unsustainable level, the Minority group told the House that they felt compelled to support the new loans, despite their general aversion to new loans for Ghana, because the terms of the facilities appeared favorable.
In accordance with the government’s new tax policies, a slew of new laws was enacted, including legislation lowering the E-levy rate from 1.5 percent to 1% and raising the VAT rate by 2.5 percent.
In addition, the Minority in Parliament’s vehement and unwavering opposition to the National Cathedral Project forced the government to abandon an 80 million Ghana cedis proposed allocation to the contentious project.
