Government’s GH¢80 million budgetary allocation for the National Cathedral project has not suffered an outright rejection by Parliament, Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka has clarified.
The MP says the report given by some media houses was inaccurate as the earlier vote was carried at the committee level, giving the Majority the opportunity to overturn it and get it approved with their numbers if the voting is subsequently brought to the House.
The Asawase lawmaker says the clarification is necessary to avoid any vilification from supporters of the National Democratic Congress, should the plenary overturn the decision.
This clarification comes after the Ranking Member on the joint committee of Trade, Industry and Tourism, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, on Tuesday, December 20 dedicated a Minority voting decision to reject the budget estimates for the building of the National Cathedral as captured in the 2023 budget statement to Ghanaians.
He said the decision was a victory to all Ghanaians as previous allocations to the project were not properly accounted for.
Eleven Minority MPs as against 10 Majority MPs, therefore, voted to reject the GH¢80-million allocation for the continuation of the project.
But the Asawase MP said the decision is not final.
“It is recommendation to the House. It is not that the thing has been rejected because the committee doesn’t have the power to reject anything,” he said, adding that the committee only has the power to recommend to the plenary.
He prayed that the Minority group will have more members to win a vote on the recommendation when the committee tables its decision before the House.
“If their number is more than us, they can reverse that.”
He said expectations of his party’s supporters must be managed so that when decisions go otherwise, the MPs will not be accused of being induced, for instance.
Source: 3News.com|Ghana
