Harry Maguire, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Isaac Adongo

England defender Harry Maguire has been mocked by a Ghanaian MP who used a football analogy to describe the nation’s vice president.

Hon. Issac Adongo labelled the country’s Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as an “Economic Maguire”, likening his performance in the role to Maguire’s decline since joining Manchester United.

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is a Ghanaian economist and former central banker who serves as the 5th Vice President of Ghana in the 4th Ghanaian Republic.

“…tackling Manchester players and giving assists to opponents. Mr Speaker, when the opponent failed to score, Maguire will score for them,” Mr Adongo said, as laughter erupted in the chamber.

“Mr Speaker, you remember in this country we also have an economic Maguire.”

Mr Isaac Adongo is a Ghanaian politician and member of the 8th Ghanian Parliament representing the Bolgatanga Central Constituency in the Upper East Region on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress. He was first elected in 2016 and he was re-elected in 2020.

Harry Maguire gets roasted in Ghanaian parliament as Economic Maguire. Credit to JoyNews. #HarryMaguire #Dr #EconomicMaguire #Ghana pic.twitter.com/Sv2M1CWHPQ

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The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has served notice to Members of Parliament and visitors to the House to comply with newly instituted security measures that require anyone seeking entry to the Chamber to be scanned before entry is granted.

Speaker Bagbin instructed that any Member of Parliament or visitor that fails to comply with the new directive should be denied entry to the Chamber effective Thursday, November 17.

The Speaker says all persons who seek to enter the Chamber must go through the newly installed scanners in the House as part of measures to beef up security.

“It is compulsory for all members including me to pass through the machines to be scanned before we enter the Chamber of Parliament”.

“All strangers who intend coming to the public gallery, or to the press gallery, or to the important visitors gallery are all to pass through the scanning machines. Starting from Thursday, anybody who is not willing to pass through those machines will definitely not be allowed to enter this Chamber.”

The beefing up of security at the House was first raised two years ago by the then Speaker, Professor Mike Oquaye who pleaded for additional security attaché to legislators.

The committee of Parliament probing allegations in a censure motion against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is expected to resume sittings today, Thursday with an appearance by the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC) and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

In a Facebook post, the North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said PIAC and GNPC are expected before the committee at 11 am today.

GNPC is the state agency responsible for the exploration, licensing, and distribution of petroleum-related activities in Ghana, while PIAC is an independent statutory body mandated to promote transparency and accountability in the management of petroleum revenue in Ghana.

This comes after proponents of the motion, the Minority, were heard on their grounds for their allegations of conflict of interest and financial recklessness levelled against the Finance Minister for censure against him.

The Minority, represented by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu and, Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson, cited PIAC reports from 2019 to 2022 and the Petroleum Management Act as some of the basis for their allegations against the Mr. Ofori-Atta.

Mr. Ofori-Atta, will on Friday be expected to put up a defence to the Minority’s push for a vote of censure against him.

He had requested time to prepare based on the evidence tendered to the committee by the Minority.

The evidence included IMF staff reports from 2018 to 2021, fiscal data from the Ministry of Finance, Budget statements from 2019 to 2022, mid-year budget statements from 2019 to 2022 and the Auditor General reports from 2018 to 2020.