Reading Of Anti-Terrorism Bill Deferred

The second reading of the Anti-Terrorism Bill on the floor of Parliament was yesterday deferred by the Speaker, Ebenezer Sekyi-Hughes, following disagreements between members about the eligibility of the Majority Leader to read the Bill on behalf of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, who was absent.

After the Majority Leader, Abraham Ossei-Aidooh, had moved the motion on the bill, Mr. Edward Doe Adjaho, Deputy Minority Leader, rose to his feet on a point of order, saying, since the motion stood in the name of the Attorney-General and not the Majority Leader, the former or his deputy should lead the debate on the bill.

Since the Attorney-General, Mr. Joe Ghartey and his deputy, Osei Kwame Prempeh were not present in the House, Mr. Adjaho urged the House to defer motion on the bill arguing that it is an important international bill which required circumspection.

Mr. Ossei-Aidooh however insisted that as Majority Leader, he is competent enough to read the bill on behalf of the Attorney-General and asked the House to hold him responsible for any lapses or mistakes that might occur in the bill.

John Tia (NDC-Talensi), said while he agreed that the Majority Leader was capable of handling any business in the House, the issue of terrorism was not a simple matter, saying, 'It will reflect our national position and image. We are only asking that the House should be allowed to do something that will stand the test of time'.

said while he agreed that the Majority Leader was capable of handling any business in the House, the issue of terrorism was not a simple matter, saying, 'It will reflect our national position and image. We are only asking that the House should be allowed to do something that will stand the test of time'. At that juncture, the Speaker stood down the motion and asked the leadership from both sides of the House to meet for two minutes and 'put your heads together' to thrash out the issue. But later, when the Speaker did not receive any feed back from the leadership on the matter, he deferred the bill.

The bill seeks to combat terrorism, suppress and detect acts of terrorism, prevent the territory, its resources and financial services from being used to commit terrorist acts. It is to protect the rights of people in the country to live in peace, freedom, and security and to provide for related matters.

The bill is organised in five distinct sections, namely, terrorist acts, terrorist offences; specified entities, search, seizure and forfeiture of properties, and miscellaneous matters. It was first presented and read in Parliament on October 25, 2005 and referred to the Joint Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Defence and the Interior for consideration and report.