Parliament reconvenes today …as Mahama Ayariga hints of Committee to probe military brutality in Garu
Members of Parliament will reconvene in Accra today to commence the third meeting of the third session of the fourth republic.
The meeting is expected to span between now and December 2023.
A notice of commencement signed by the Clerk to Parliament, Cyril KwabenaNsiah, in Accra on October 11, 2023 said the first sitting of the meeting would be held at Parliament House here in Accra.
“Pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) of the Parliament of Ghana, I, Cyril KwabenaOtengNsiah, Clerk to Parliament, hereby notify Hon Members that the “Third Meeting of the Third Session of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic shall commence on Tuesday 31st October, 2023 at ten o’clock in the forenoon at Parliament House Accra,” the notice reads.
Major on the programme schedule of the meeting is the presentation of the 2024 budget statement and economic policy of government for year 2023.
The House would also start consideration of the private members’ bill Proper Human Rights and Family Values Bill, 2022.
The House would also be expecting a report of a special committee tasked to investigate voices on a leaked tape on which some people were heard masterminding removal of the current Inspector-General of Police, Dr George AkuffoDampare.
The House, meanwhile, could be invited to probe the attack on some residents of Garu by some soldiers.
“I will join my fellow Members of Parliament from the Upper East Region to call for a full scale inquiry into what happened,” MP for Bawku, Central, MahamaAyariga said in a statement.
He recalled of how he was being involved in a discussion with the Minister for National Security a few days earlier about some national security operatives who had been stopped in Garu and handed over to the police.
“I saw media reports of alleged shooting of the vehicle used by the national security operatives by unknown persons in the Garu area.
“If the incident is a retaliation by the soldiers, this will be most unfortunate and unacceptable in today’s Ghana and he have to get to the bottom of the matter and hold the military personnel involved in this dastard act accountable,” he said.
Perpetrators of the alleged crime, MrAyariga said must be face the music to serve as a deterrent to others.
Scores of residents of Garu, especially men, reported to have been beaten, allegedly, by personnel of the armed forces for an earlier attack on national security operatives in the area.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
