Member of Parliament for North Tongu Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
• Afenyo-Markin accused Okudzeto Ablakwa of not being candid over the status of his questions
• According to him, the questions were rejected by the Speaker of Parliament
• But Ablakwa says he spoke out of ignorance as the questions have been admitted
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu has rebuffed suggestions by the Deputy Majority Leader Alex Afenyo-Markin that questions he submitted on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s recent trips to France and South Africa were rejected by Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin.
Okudzeto Ablakwa told Neat FM that contrary to the claims by Afenyo-Markin, his questions were admitted by the Speaker and forms part of the issues that will be discussed in the house.
He reiterated that his criticism of the president’s hiring of the luxurious plane is not borne out of malice but an attempt to ensure that the President stays true to his promise of protecting the public purse.
“It came to light yesterday that he clearly didn’t know what he was talking about and he has been exposed because the questions admitted by the Speaker for this second meeting has been advertised and my questions are there. It’s not true that my questions have been rejected. My questions have been accepted”.
Afenyo-Markin is quoted to have said Ablakwa was not being candid with Ghanaians over the status of his question.
He was firm in his conviction that the question had been marked inadmissible by the Speaker and therefore was not going to be tabled during proceedings in the house.
“His question was considered inadmissible. In other words, Mr. Speaker rejected his questions, and he expected him to have demonstrated fairness to the public and the house by saying that his question has been rejected, and he knows that.
“So why create the impression that you have a pending urgent question. Per our rules, when a question is filed, the Mr. Speaker is the sole authority to determine the admissibility or otherwise. So is he saying that he is unaware that his questions have been rejected?
“What he is trying to do is that, Mr. Speaker is perhaps delaying his question because an urgent question is urgent, and I’m saying that he knows that he doesn’t have an urgent question,” the deputy Minority Leader is on record to have said.