I will not to push through poorly crafted govt programmes - Majority leader warns

Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Dr. Benjamin Kunbuor has made it clear he will not push through any government business which falls short of proper due diligence.

The Majority Leader said with his training, in critical reviewing of bills and statutes, it would be embarrassing to identify mistakes in government programmes laid before parliament for consideration.

“It is the quality of the bill that I am worried about,” he lamented.

A poorly crafted bill would face unnecessary criticisms, long delays and an embarrassment to government and put pressure on him as a majority leader, he revealed.

But a "meticulous" Kunbuor asserted he would not sacrifice quality for speed.

“There is no amount of pressure that will make me do the wrong thing in parliament. Even if that bill has to wait for another sitting, it has to”, he said.

Dr. Kunbuor who is leader of government business in the House added that by virtue of his non-cabinet position he could not be privy to confidential workings of the executive structure.

He said this hampered his “capacity to do specific follow-up to the various MMDAs” to ensure government business was properly done.

“I cannot use the parliamentary secretariat to run government business in parliament, you can run into a lot of clashes with confidentiality”, he noted.

Minority MPs are unhappy about the situation. They fear the House may not be able to complete its work before it rises next month.

Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the minority leader in parliament noted the House would be going on recess next month for renovation works to "re-configure" the chamber of parliament.

Any delays would unnecessarily increase their work load when they reconvened.

Parliament on Tuesday sat for only ten minutes because items on the order paper required further scrutiny. That is not an isolated case. For the best part of the last three weeks since the House reconvened, sittings have failed to go the full hall.