Deputy Minister of Information, Pius Enam Hadzide, says the executive arm of government has not made any decision to build a new chamber of 450-seater capacity worth 200 million dollars.
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According to Mr Hadzide, the new proposed Parliament chamber is not captured in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) manifesto and it’s not the reason why Ghanaians voted the incumbent government into power.
“We never promised Ghanaians a chamber and there is nowhere in our manifesto which has stated that we are going to build a chamber,” he clarified.
He further said there is no evidence that there has been a decision by the government to build a new chamber.
“If you go to parliament now there is no minute to show there has been a decision to build a chamber. If truly there was a discussion on it, the Ministry of Works and Housing, where massive infrastructure like this is coordinated, would have had records that show there would be a construction of that kind. Also, the Ministry of Finance has no record or evidence to show monies have been released to that effect,” he said on Peace FM, monitored by Adomonline.com.
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He expressed surprise at the rate at which the chamber issue had traveled and assured Ghanaians there would be no construction of a new chamber.
“As a member of the Executive, I’m surprised at the rate at which this issue is circulating. What we heard was some Members of the Parliamentary Service Board discussing and celebrating over the construction of a new chamber as legislature and it is not out of their scope to discuss things like these. This doesn’t mean that the President and Parliament have agreed to build a new chamber,” he added.
Source: Adomonline.com | Nana Aba Mensah