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Poor time management is tearing Ghana’s parliament apart
Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot
Accra, March 23, Ghanadot - In Ghana, we are
experiencing the adverse side of time management, which is
poor time management often called “African Time”.
Time management is the art of arranging, organizing,
scheduling, and budgeting one’s time for the purpose of
generating more effective work and productivity.
It has become crucial in recent years thanks to the busy
world in which we live.
The habit of poor time management has cut deep into the
fabric of the Ghanaian society and even among its top
officials like, the Executive, judiciary, legislature and
the private sector.
This week some of members of parliament, from both the
majority and minority sides, comprising the ruling National
Democratic Congress (NDC) (majority) and the New Patriotic
Party (NPP), Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the
People’s National Convention (PNC), all minority parties,
have expressed misgivings about the way the top echelon of
the House is being taken over by poor time management in the
country.
According to the standing orders of Ghana’s parliament, “the
House shall sit on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and
Fridays. Sittings shall, subject to the direction of Mr.
Speaker, ordinarily commence at ten o’clock in the
afternoon”.
But, there seems to be a shift away from the ten o’clock as
stated in the standing orders, ever since the new parliament
under the fourth Republic began sitting on 7th January.
Also, the leaderships of the house seem to have no regard
for time alone and attend all parliamentary functions late.
Some Members of Parliaments (MPs) attributed the current
disregard for time management to the Speaker of Parliament,
Justice Mrs. Joyce Bamford-Addo and her supporting staff.
Investigations conducted by Ghanadot indicate that apart
from 19th February, 2009 when the House commenced to sitting
at 10a.m because President John Evans Atta Mills was there
to present the state of the nation address, the earliest the
House had began sitting was 11:10a.m, even this was on a
special occasion.
On March 5, when the Minister of Finance and Economic
Planning, Dr. Kwabena Duffour was also in the House to read
the 2009 budget statement, sitting began at 12:15am with
some MPs who were habitual late comers engaged in some acts
like chatting, exchanging of pleasantries with colleagues,
making calls, receiving visitors at the foyer, at the same
time the parliamentary proceedings were ongoing.
Last week, an angry Papa Owusu Ankomah, MP for Sekondi,
having waited in vain for a change in attitude of the
parliamentary leaderships towards the delays in sitting,
raised the issue on the floor of the House, when a motion
was moved for the adoption of the business statement of the
House.
He was unhappy about late commencement of proceedings in the
House, without offering explanation to the august House.
Mr. Ankomah noted that this wasbeginning to impact
negatively on the programmes of some MPs. He,
therefore, called for an urgent review of the situation.
His point was supported by other MPs, who noted that the
late start of proceedings is seriously affecting time
allocation for debates, considering the fact that the House
is scheduled to go on recess on March 27, this year, and so
has to quicken steps on its agenda for the meeting.
Some of the MPs emphasized that they are not happy about the
situation, especially about the unwillingness of the
leaderships to address the issue, though it had been brought
to their notice.
They blamed the delays solely on the first Female Speaker of
Ghana’s Parliament since, according to them; it is only when
the Speaker takes her seat that proceedings can commence.
Ghanadot
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