As Parliament prepares to go on recess tonight, Friday, the practice of passing several agreements within hours has been questioned.
In an interview with the press in Parliament, Ranking Member of the Finance Committee, Cassiel Ato Forson condemned the practice which spans all administrations under the fourth republic.
“I am sad in the sense that parliamentarians are not given the opportunity to do proper due diligence, in the sense that last-minute push to pass finance agreements is not fair on us. From last night till his morning, the number of finance agreements that have been laid before this August house is expected to be passed within two hours and this is something I personally feel should not be encouraged as a country. You don’t get the best result out of things that are normally rushed.”
He said a 1.5 billion dollar Cocoa Syndicated Loan, a 13.5 million dollar loan to finance the support of basic education project in Five regions, a 600 million dollar loan agreement for Cocoa Enhancement programmers by the COCOBOD among others are still before the Finance Committee of the House scheduled to be passed before recess.
“Last night, a loan agreement was laid for COCOBOD to1.3 billion dollars, 7. 5 million dollars and another 600 million dollars. The document was laid almost at midnight…How do expect us to do due diligence on the matter,” he questioned.
Government is seeking an amount of 1.5 billion dollars for the purchase of cocoa beans for the 2019/2020 crop season.
According to a motion tabled in Parliament, COCOBOD wants a receivables-backed Trade Finance facility from a consortium of banks and financial institutions.
The motion is expected to be approved later today before parliament ends its second meeting for this session.