Accra (Greater Accra) 09 July 2002 - Poor attendance in Parliament on Monday rendered the House impotent to complete its scheduled business for the day.
Twenty minutes was all it took for the 200 - member House to disperse after failing to raise 100 members to vote on four resolutions, the main items on business menu that hinged on procedural considerations for the day. An aggrieved Backbench had even conspired against their various leaders as they voted against the first motion for adjournment moved by Papa Owusu Ankoma, the Majority Leader.
It was an unprecedented move by the Backbenchers in the life of the Third Parliament of the Fourth Republic. Mr Freddy Blay, First Deputy Speaker, who presided, got stuck procedurally and desperately sought unavailable counsel from the Majority Frontbench.
Mr Abraham Kofi Asante, NDC-Amenfi West, who championed the cause of the Backbenchers said, " the motion has failed and since we want to work I propose that we suspend sitting so that the whips would get their people." His newly found position did not last long as his own Leader shot him in the foot. Mr Alban Bagbin, the Minority Leader, moved a motion for a second adjournment that was reluctantly voted for by the Backbenchers.
He convinced the House that the 25-member Public Accounts Committee and other Committees were supposed to meet for crucial deliberations. Several Backbenchers had expressed misgivings about the running of business in the House lately. They had questioned the decision of the leadership to call the House to sit on last Saturday and Monday when business could be conducted on normal days.
They also quizzed their leaders on the their decision to break on 12 July instead of 28 July, the original date set for the break. Papa Owusu Ankoma had argued that the timetable was only a guide for the House. Both the Leadership and the Backbenchers have denied that the 'mutiny' was pre-conceived.
GRi../
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