Purchase Of �China Chairs� A Regrettable Set Back - Kwakye Ofosu

Deputy Communications Minister Felix Kwakye Ofosu says the decision by the leadership of Parliament to purchase made in China furniture for the chamber is an affront to the brand Ghana. According to him, Ghanaian furniture manufacturers just like their foreign counterparts have the capacity and know-how to deliver. Leadership of Parliament has come under a barrage of attack after it emerged that they imported furniture from China to furnish chamber. But in defense, the leadership argued they imported the furniture to beat the stipulated two months deadline. Minority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, claimed that Parliament could not get any local manufacturing company to deliver within the deadline provided by the leadership of the House. In a riposte, Felix Kwakye Ofosu on Asempa FM�s Ekosii Sen programme Monday said �the argument of time do not wash�. He maintained that the decision to choose foreign furniture manufacturers to local ones was not a decision taken on the spare of the moment. �We should not repeat such conduct because it demoralizes the Ghanaian manufacturers. We must repose confidence in our local manufacturers,� he stressed. The deputy communications minister said if the excuse of time is anything to go by, �why did they form a consortium of four or five companies to do the job to meet the deadline�. Kwakye Ofosu maintained that the decision by Parliament to purchase the �China Chairs� was a regrettable set back. He, however, expressed shock at the attempt by some individuals to blame government for the importation of the chairs. �The decision to purchase chairs from China is a purely parliamentary decision and they are masters of their own rule. There is absolutely no basis to blame government,� he added.