Parliament has postponed the presentation of the State of the Nation Address by President John Mahama to January 5, 2016.
The president was expected to deliver what is to be his final address to Parliament on Thursday, December 22, 2016, before he lives office on 6th January.
However, Parliament, which reconvenes Tuesday, has decided to postpone the Presidents's presentation to a date yet to be communicated.
Majority Chief Whip and a member of Parliament's Business Committee, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, explains parliament is hoping to clear outstanding business before the House before legislators went on break.
“Before we went on the break for the election there were a number of bills outstanding. Prominent among them is the right to information bill.
"So my understanding is that at the business committee we scheduled the businesses that were outstanding to try as much as possible to finish them,” he told Joy News.
The outgoing president’s presentation will focus on the state of the nation after his four-year term and is in accordance with Article 67 the Constitution which states: “The President shall, at the beginning of each session of Parliament and before a dissolution of Parliament, deliver a message on the state of the nation”.
President Mahama leaves office as the 4th president of the 4th republic, after Ghanaians rejected his bid to lead the country in another four year term in the December 7 presidential election.
His address will also be the last by a head of State to the Sixth Parliament that is set to be dissolved by the midnight of January 6 2016, as the next president takes office the next day.
By:Fiifi Abdul Malik
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