29th November 2023 9:34:10 AM
2 mins readDuring a parliamentary session on Tuesday, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, and Communications Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful clashed over the contentious Import Restrictions Bill.
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The disagreement led to a heated exchange, only brought to a close by the Speaker's authoritative intervention, with Ursula eventually concurring to end the dispute.
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The parliamentary drama unfolded after another unsuccessful attempt by the Minister of Trade, KT Hammond, to present the controversial Import Restrictions Bill. The bill aims to grant the Trade Ministry the authority to approve or disapprove the importation of a specified list of products.
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The Minority MPs, who had adamantly pledged to oppose both the laying and approval of the bill, maintained their vigorous resistance. Ursula questioned the Speaker, expressing her concern about why he wouldn't instruct the Minority to withhold their objections since the bill had not yet been laid, a directive the Speaker had previously given to the Trade and Industry Minister, K.T. Hammond.
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Ursula contended that there was no valid reason for the Minority's opposition, as, from her perspective, there was nothing formally presented before the House that warranted such resistance.
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After close to a minute of exchange of words, the Speaker said, “Hon. Minister, Honourable Minister, Honourable Minister, this is not the Ministry of Communications, this is Parliament."
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In response, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said, “I am very much aware of that, Sir,” before the speaker thundered, “Resume your seat.”
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Following the Speaker's comment, a loud voice was heard saying, "Sit down". The individual behind the phrase "Sit down" which is now on X's trends list, remains unknown.
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For some users, they believe Ningo-Prampram MP, Sam Nartey George was the individual who made the utterance.
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Mr George and Mrs Owusu-Ekuful have clashed over the re-registration SIM Card exercises which saw millions of SIMs being blocked.
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