Ranking Member on the Trade, Industry and Tourism Committee, Yusif Sulemana has said the Minister for Trade and Industry, K.T Hammond did not meet the required protocols in laying the Legislative Instrument before Parliament.
Mr. Sulemana explained that per the standard, the Minister is required to do a pre-laying to the Trade and Industry Committee, meet with the substantive Legislative Committee before presenting the Legislative Instrument (L.I) on the floor of Parliament.
According to him, this is to allow the Committee to extensively deliberate on the L.I before it is presented to the House as Parliament will have “little to do with the content of the L.I”
“The standard has been that you do some consultations with stakeholders before it is laid. Twenty-one working days after it is laid, it becomes a law and so one would have thought that the Minister will first of all engage the Trade Committee then proceed to meet with the substantive Legislative Committee before it is laid,” he explained.
He said the Minister rather presented the L.I straightforward to the floor of the House without going through the required standard and did not engage the Trade Committee.
The Minister was then directed to present the L.I to the Committee which raised some legality issues in the L.I and demanded that the Minister provide better explanation.
“So many issues came up there and it was nearly rejected and so he had to go back with some kind of attitude that whether the Committee likes it or not, he was going to lay it,” Yusif Sulemana added.
He urged K.T Hammond to consult and dialogue with all stakeholders rather than using his Executive powers.
“In matters like this, its not about using your Executive powers but also to dialogue. The cement manufacturers have availed themselves to the Minister and the Committee not today,” he explained.
Following the recent increment in cement prices, the Trades Ministry is seeking to regulate the cement prices by introducing a Legislative Instrument.
Trades Minister, K.T Hammond said that as persons in authority, it is their duty to ensure that Ghanaians are not fleeced.
“At a point in time, we are not producing so much cement in the country. Now we have an installed capacity of over 11 million tons in the country. Our demand is nothing like 11 million, so it must be a very profitable enterprise. But I think it behooves on those in responsible positions of authority to ensure that the good people of Ghana are not fleeced. I am not comfortable, I don’t believe that we’re getting good prizes for all that it’s worth,” he said.
An attempt to lay the document in Parliament on Tuesday, June 26, was blocked by the Minority.
The opposition lawmakers insisted the L.I. must first be discussed.
Source: 3news.com
