Posted by Chester Morton / Tuesday, 20 February 2018 / No comments
Apex College observes parliamentary proceedings as the house approves Mr. Martin Alamisi Amidu as the Special Public Prosecutor
APEX COLLEGE OBSERVES PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS AS THE HOUSE APPROVES MARTIN AMIDU
AS THE SPECIAL PUBLIC PROSECUTOR.
By
Divine Sewornu Dzokoto
In
a bid to give a concrete meaning to the things that the teachers of government
as a subject do in their classrooms, the General Arts students of Apex College
were taken to the public gallery of Ghana’s Parliament House to observe
proceedings in the house of Ghana’s Legislature.
At
the time of the visit of the students from the beautiful suburb of Mataheko, in
Accra, the house was scheduled to debate and approve the nomination of Mr.
Martin Alamisi Amidu as Special Public Prosecutor, who was nominated by the
President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo.
With
other schools such as, the Future Generation Educational Center from Tema,
Ghana’s major Port City, the Pentecostal Preparatory School from Takoradi, in
the Western Region, Kaneshie Secondary Technical School in Kaneshie and the Sacred Heart
Technical Institute in James Town, perched in the Public Gallery, the motion was
moved to abridge the time for the debate on the report of the Appointments
Committee on the nomination of Mr. Martin Amidu as the Special Public
Prosecutor.
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| Some students of Apex College |
After
the move to abridge the time was done, the beautiful Parliament House, with all
its beauty and glamour went alive with motions and points of order. There were hecklings
from both sides of the political divide as members attracted the attention of
the Speaker of Parliament.
There were attempts from the
minority in parliament to prevent the debate of the report of the Appointments
Committee but this was unsuccessful. Dr. Dominic Ayine, a Deputy Ranking member
on Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, who had filed a suit in court against
the appointment of Martin Amidu because he was over aged, wanted the
proceedings halted pending the determination of the legal matter in court. This
was unsuccessful because, in the words of the Speaker, there was not enough evidence
before him to make any determinations in favour of Dr. Ayine.
After this, the Speaker of
Parliament called for the report of the Appointments Committee to be debated.
Ordinary members from both sides were given five minutes to speak and the
leadership was given ten minutes to speak. After the debate, the house approved
the president’s nomination of Mr. Martin Alamisi Amidu as the Special Public
Prosecutor.
In spite of this parliamentary
approval, Mr. Amidu must await the return of the president from the Republic of
Togo, where he has gone to hold talks with feuding parties in that countries protracted political
crisis, to append his signature to the bill before he can hit the ground
running.
