There was a near exchange of fisticuffs in Parliament on Monday between the Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam George, and the Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.
The two were in disagreement over the amount of money spent by the Ministry in acquiring a Chancery building in Oslo, Norway.It is unclear what exactly incensed Mad. Ayorkor Botchwey to charge on the Ningo-Pramprah MP,but Citi News’ Duke Mensah Opoku reported the Foreign Affairs Minister was addressing some minority MPs ostensibly explaining the Ministry’s budgeted expenditure on the Chancery when she heard Sam George making catcalls and taking a video record of her engagement with Okudzeto Ablakwa and some minority MPs.
The Minister was however held back by her security detail and the Chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Frank Annoh Dompreh, averting a possible physical challenge.
The woman was heard hurling insults at Sam George, who was also heard saying that he was going to seek audience with the Speaker.
Earlier on the floor of the House, the Minority, led by the Ranking Member for the Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, leveled claims of cost inflation against the ministry over the conversion of a 100-year-old 6-bedroom house in Oslo Norway, into Ghana’s new mission in Norway.
Ablakwa alleged that the property was bought by a certain woman for $2.9 million in 2014 and sold to an unknown buyer for $3.5 million in August 2017, and so it was surprising that the ministry in a presentation to the Foreign Affairs committee said it was purchasing the same building for $12.2 million in 2018.
He therefore urged the Speaker, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye to admit a document he presented to back his claims of an inflated contract, but the Speaker ruled that the evidence is not admissible because the documents are not verifiable.
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By: Jonas Nyabor & Duke Mensah Opoku | citinewsroom.com | Ghana
The post Sam George, Ayorkor Botchwey in ‘near fight’ in Parliament appeared first on Citi Newsroom.
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