Naagyei 90.3 Fm Agyapa
The Speaker of Parliament Professor Mike Oquaye has justified the House’s decision not to pay respect to the victims of the Kintampo road crash on Monday as it observed a minute silence for victims of disasters in New Zealand and Mozambique.
Several people were killed in New Zealand after a gunman stormed a mosque while in Mozambique more than 700 persons have been killed after a cyclone ravaged an entire township.
But nothing was said in Parliament on Monday about the death of at least 60 passengers who lost their lives in a head-on collision involving two buses on the Kintampo – Techiman highway Friday, 22 March, a situation that led to the MP for Kumbungu, Ras Mubarak publicly taking a dig at Parliament.
“We have all been saddened and there’s not anyone in this country who will say he has not heard that there was a gory accident that took the lives of many of our compatriots.
“So if a minute silence was not observed then it’s sad because we are representing the people and if the people are in a state of tragedy we should be seen timeous to be commiserating with them and showing concern,” Mubarak said.
But Mr Speaker on Tuesday during the proceedings explained that Parliament was silent on the matter because the House was waiting for the MP for the area to return from a fact-finding visit to the area to deliver a statement on the accident.
“…It has come to my attention that some members of the public have wondered why there were no statements on this tragedy yesterday by this honourable House at a time we were talking about tragedies elsewhere…we had good reason yesterday, the Honourable member who had already filed a statement had to be outside the House because of what had occurred in her constituency and leadership were agreeable that she must be the appropriate person to lead the statement on this issue in this honourable House. And that was not out of this honourable House not being mindful.”
