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Jean Mensa, the head of the NIA, will appear in Parliament on Tuesday to discuss the new election CI.
Jean Mensa, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), and Kenneth Attafuah, Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority, are scheduled to appear before Parliament on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, to brief the House on the commission's proposed Constitutional Instrument (CI).
The Minority in Parliament objected to the briefing by EC officials last Thursday due to Madam Mensa's absence from the House.
In the upcoming general elections, the EC's CI is attempting to use the Ghana Card as the primary document for voter registration.
The EC Chairperson, Jean Mensa, will appear before legislators on Tuesday, according to Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu.
"The EC officials had established contact with the Chairperson, who had agreed to come down for us to have the committee of the whole meeting, but she delayed because the Minority MPs were picking up their parliamentary forms. So she will appear on Tuesday, and we will continue with the committee of the whole meeting."
Parliament has denied reports that it has passed a Constitutional Instrument to make the Ghana Card the sole document registration document for elections.
According to a statement from Parliament's Public Affairs Directorate, the House only held pre-presentation discussions on the CI to gather input from relevant sources for the drafting of the Constitutional Instrument (CI).
"The attention of Parliament Ghana has been drawn to a report in the Ghanaian Times alleging that Parliament has passed a Constitutional Instrument (CI) to make the Ghana Card the sole registration document.
"Parliament categorically states that no such instrument has been passed. Parliament, in any case, does not pass Constitutional Instruments."
read also: Health Minister to be in Parliament on Wednesday over vaccine shortage.
Kwaku Agyeman Manu, the Health Minister, is scheduled to appear before Parliament on March 1, 2023, to brief the chamber on the steps being taken to address the country's shortage of childhood vaccines.
This would follow his meeting with the Health Committee of Parliament and other agency heads on Tuesday to answer questions about the country's current vaccine shortage.
For several months, the Northern Region and other parts of the country have been experiencing vaccine shortages, with no solution in place.
Majority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh announced the presence of the Health Minister in Parliament on Wednesday.
"The Minister for Health has been scheduled to brief the House on vaccine issues on Wednesday, March 1," says the statement.
Analysts have warned that if immediate steps are not taken to procure vaccines for immunizing children, Ghana may face an outbreak of childhood diseases.
Following reports of nationwide vaccine shortages, the Paediatric Society of Ghana, for example, added to this warning.
The reports, according to the Paediatric Society of Ghana, are just the tip of the iceberg, as more facilities are reporting a measles outbreak.
Due to a lack of essential vaccines, 120 cases of measles were recorded in the Northern Region by the end of December 2022.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has acknowledged vaccine shortages and blamed the situation on the cedi's free fall against major trading currencies, particularly the dollar.
Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), a tuberculosis (TB) vaccine; oral polio vaccine 0 (OPV); measles-rubella; meningitis; and diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough) are all part of the routine vaccination program.
Vaccines against polio, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenza type B (DPT/Hep B/Hib 1), as well as six infectious diseases that are especially dangerous to babies, are also given.
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