The Legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Committee in Parliament has presented its report on whether or not the Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill 2017 could come under the certificate of urgency.
Chairman of the committee Ben Abdallah in presenting the report said per the Standing Orders of the house, the committee was supposed to present their report in 24 hours, but failed because of the fire that gutted the 10th floor of the Job 600 building which is made up of the offices of Parliamentarians.
He said they had to exit the building immediately when the fire was detected and this brought their meeting at the time to an abrupt end.
The Chairman took advantage of Order 75 (2) and explained that going through the memorandum and the body of the bill itself, the committee realized that the bill carried weighty issues that needed broader stakeholder consultation.
According to him, this cannot be done within a short time adding that in the view of the committee it was wrong for the bill to be placed under a certificate of urgency.
Mr. Abdallah further indicated that the bill has to be taken through the normal legislative process.
A ranking member on the committee Inusah Fuseini told the house that after careful consideration and perusal of some relevant information in terms of the need to establish an institution that will endure the test of time it was important to build a stakeholder consensus which requires stakeholder consultation .
Earlier this week the Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Muhammed Mubarak raised concerns about the hasty manner with which the bill was laid in Parliament. Mr. Mubarak further argued that even copies of the bill have not been given to members according to Standing Order 75.
The purpose of the referral of the bill by the Speaker to the committee was to determine whether or not the Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill 2017 has to be treated under the certificate of urgency.
Owoahene Omari Acheampong| Onua 95.1FM|3news.com|Ghana