A Member of Parliament (MP) for the Banda constituency, Ahmed Ibrahim believes Nana Akufo-Addo has lost his priorities as the President of Ghana.
The Deputy Minority Chief Whip has thereby suggested to the first gentleman of the land to apologize for supporting the Parliamentary Service Board to construct a new chamber.
According to him, Nana Addo was aware of the decision to put up a new Parliamentary chamber complex, and cannot, therefore, deny that the Executive arm of Government was not consulted during the process.
"Beyond dropping the chamber, the President must apologise to Ghanaians for us to know that democracy is really working in this country. He wanted to build a chamber and then when you were asked you claim innocence . . . Meanwhile, that is not the case; he was really involved. If President Akufo-Addo has lost his priorities, he should let us know. He also owes MPs an apology," he said in an interview on Neat FM.
Massive opposition to and public outcry about the $200 project by Civil Society Organisations compelled Parliament to announce a halt to the project on Monday 8 July.
The decision to shelve the project was made after a meeting of the Parliamentary Service Board considering the massive social media campaign and public uproar against the decision.
The Parliamentary Service Board had already received the architectural model for the new chamber from renowned Ghanaian architect David Frank Adjaye, the same designer of the National Cathedral.
The 450-seater chamber would have come with a chapel, mosque, restaurant, and a museum. The current chamber houses 275 seats for MPs.
Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) and pressure group OccupyGhana condemned the idea, describing it as a “misplaced priority.”
On Friday, three members of the Economic Fighters League were arrested for protesting against the new 450-seat chamber. The leader of the group and his accomplices were granted GHC2, 000 bail with one surety.
The League led by its leader Ernesto Yeboah was protesting in the public gallery during proceedings.
But on Monday, the acting Director of Public Affairs of Parliament, Kate Addo, told Accra-based Neat FM, that "before projects are completed, feasibility studies are done but you would realise that this new chamber is not something that is workable for now”.
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