The Minority in Parliament should not be paid its February salary for walking out of Parliament just when the President was about to deliver the State of the Nation Address on Thursday 20 February 2020, and subsequently, boycotting the SoNA debate, Mr Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover, Member of Parliament for Tema East, has said.
Condemning the act of the Minority, Mr Titus-Glover said although it was within their right to boycott Parliament, they should have considered the effect of their actions on their constituents who voted for them before embarking on such a move.
“It was sad that they did that,” he told Accra100.5FM’s parliamentary correspond, Richard Appiah Sarpong in an interview on Tuesday, 25 February 2020.
“We did boycott SoNA in 2013 when we challenged the legitimacy of President John Mahama but in their case, what were their reasons? I believe that their constituents voted for them and, so, they should look at the people they are representing. Now, they also said they are boycotting the debate but all I will say is that, if you don’t work, you are not paid.
“The labour law says that whoever does not work should not be paid and, so, the act should be implemented here in their case. It is not me who will stop their salary, it is their duty to work and get paid and, so, if you don’t work, why should you be paid?” Mr Titus-Glover quizzed.
After their walkout, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, said his Caucus boycotted the President’s presentation of the State of the Nation Address in protest to several acts of “tyranny” and “impunity” by the Akufo-Addo government, including the recent mid-night demolition of Mr Raymond Archer’s $10 million printing press at the Ghana International Trade Fair Centre.
Mr Iddrisu accused President Akufo-Addo of being a tyrant.
“The growing culture of impunity and tyranny that has reached alarming proportions was, once again, on the prowl when agents of National Security demolished businesses belonging to Ghanaians in the private sector located at the Ghana Trade Fair site at dawn under the cover of darkness. Not even a notice was served on the owners to take out their valuables ahead of the barbaric demolition”.
“We are not in any doubt that the cruel nature of the demolition, which has been justified by the President’s appointees and spokespersons, was targeted at former award-winning journalist Raymond Archer, who, many in this administration, have not forgiven for his incisive and explosive investigative pieces of yesteryears.
“As noted, these are not normal times. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Our tradition is credited for laying the foundations for this Fourth Republican dispensation. It is our moral duty to the Constitution we swore to protect and the people we serve in this House to rise and resist the oppressor’s rule in that enduring and rallying call of our national anthem.
“Our walkout was, therefore, a bold protest against tyranny and to send a very clear message directly to President Akufo-Addo that enough is enough. We shall no longer accept the growing levels of impunity and unconstitutional masked by duplicitous and hollow rhetoric.”
Source: ClassFMonline.com