The NPP MP for Okere, Mr. Dan Botwe, has called on the leadership of Parliament to apologise to Ghanaians for failing to live up to expectation in approving the controversial ex-gratia awards for ex-presidents. Mr Botwe, who was not a member of the House when the approval was done, said it was serious omission on the part of the MPs to approve the bill without reading the entire document. Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, he said “these are serious charges, if you say you did not the document and you approve of it what are you saying, a bank manager did not look at a cheque and approved of it?” He said the issue was serious and should not be taken lightly adding that “if they did this thing without going through the due process, then they owe the Ghanaian public an apology”. He said the attempt by the MPs to absolve themselves of any responsibility by saying they did not see the provisions in the document was wrong. Mr Botwe said he has privileged information suggesting that members of the House are aware of the bill. He said while in the House to go through registration process, “I saw some processes going on and so for some people to come and say they did not see the document, I am surprised because I saw them holding the document.” The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Integrity Initiative, Vitus Azeem, said the conduct of the MPs was a case of selfishness because while they were supposed to consider and approve the conditions for the executive, they concentrated on their conditions when the bill was placed before them. According to him, the claims by the MPs that they had been hoodwinked into pass the bill had not basis. A leading member of the Committee for Joint Action, Mr. Kwesi Pratt, described the conduct of the MPs as scandalous. ‘Parliament did not do its work well, there was no diligence, in fact Parliament in many instances in matter acted terribly irresponsibly. “It is a huge scandal that we have this kind of Parliament in this era.” Story by Malik Abass Daabu