A minister who is an MP is seriously sick – Kwesi Pratt

The Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr has claimed that a member of parliament who doubles as minister has suffered an ailment which has rendered him bedridden.

Kwesi Pratt states that the said MP and Minister is sick to the extent that not even a private plan can ferry him from his current location to Parliament when it becomes necessary.

Pratt said that it is for this reason that the government is scared of tabling any business in Parliament that will require division.

“There are other dimensions we should be looking at. Since this E-levy problem came out, have you heard of any attempt by government to push through any business that needs government approval? Because the numbers are not good. If we accept the current numbers as numbers who are present in Parliament and will continue to be numbers, there is still a problem.

“There is a problem because a sitting member of Parliament who happens to be a minister is also indisposed that no matter what they do, he cannot be in Parliament. They can’t put him on a stretcher and send him to Parliament. Private jet cannot bring him. Because that MP who is a minister is so seriously indisposed, even if you add the independent to NPP numbers, it becomes 137-137 and the rules are clear on that.

“Simply on the account of the indisposition of this minister, government is in big trouble. They can’t get anything passed in Parliament. That is the reality of the problem,” he said.

The governing party is racing against time to have the unpopular E-levy passed due to the numbers in Parliament.

Sarah Adwoa Safo, the Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya has been accused of holding the government to ransom of her decision not to return to Parliament.

The current situation plus the determination of the minority side has led to a stalemate on E-levy.

The E-levy Bill which is before the house has not come up for the debate since Parliament resumed on January 25, 2022.