Feature: Self-Inflicted Wounds; Ghana's Parliament Conundrum
Ghana is one of the burgeoning democracies in the world. Like several other emerging democracies in the world, it has embraced the hybrid system which integrated both parliamentary and Presidential systems. Democracies are bound to promote peace, dialogue, consnsus and compromises so as to ensure collective development in the state. This is exactly what Ghana ascribed to under the 1992 Republican Constitution when Ghanaians signed the Social Contract.
Ghana has since practice these ideals for three decades and counting without any major scuffle or chaos in Ghana's Parliamentary Chamber; the closest were walkouts. These were mainly due to but not limited to the margin of difference between the Majority group and the Minority group in numbers. However, the 8th Parliament has brought a different dynamics; a margin of one which has given the Majority that slight edge over the Minority. This brought about three major scuffles in the year 2021 alone.
The Speaker of Parliament, The Right Honorable Alban S. Bagbin, faced out the matter in his response to the 1st December 2021 Scuffle with these words; "Anyone who precided over the affairs of Parliament, whether the Main Speaker, or any of the two Deputies are responsible for the actions and inactions of the house." This placed the chaos and scuffle of December 1st, on the shoulders of the one who precided. Lessons weren't learnt and same repeated itself again on December 20th. Can Parliament ever learn from it own mistakes?
However, when you see Obroni at the backyard attending to an abandoned shrine that has been left for ages unattended does not mean that the shrine has just regained its utmost importance over it lost glories of the past; the flowery, the patience, and the intellectual capabilities that was shown by it early occupance is yet to be match and the Obroni is simple rediscovering what it has been. The Sacredness of Ghana's Parliament has been defiled both in theory and in practice which has to act like the Obroni to rediscover its lost glory.
Nonetheless, there is the issue of the big elephant in Ghana's Parliament. The most touted E-Levy has brought the best in some Members of Parliament while also released the Beast in others. Yet the one thing that remains is the Resilience exhibited by both ends of the House. This has brought a sharp focus of the E-Levy Bill into retrospection; perhaps it will sap the last drain of blood from the ordinary Ghanaian or as if it will solve all corporate governance challenges encountered in the last six decades.
Well! It remained to be answered. For now, the majority group in Parliament, the group responsible for championing government business are torn between the devil (abandoning the e-levy) and the deep blue sea (dialoguing with the minority) on their most priced item in the budget. Hence, this has led to the deployment of smart moves from the Majority to get the bill approved. Just like a movie where the villain takes a smart move which necessitate the hero to udertake countersmart moves, the Minority took countervailing move to curtail the Majority move.
The final piece of the jigsaw was supposed to be pulled by the venerable Joseph Osei Owusu, the Wise, to swerve the minority's fishing net that is all over the place ready to catch any dribble even though he Presided. On this particular note, Joseph Osei Owusu, not mindful of the ambush laid by the Minority, pulled the last card by exiting his seat for the Second Deputy Speaker to resume the seat after he, (the Second Deputy Speaker) has casted his vote on the procedural motion of the E-Levy. This stoke the chaos witnessed on the 20th December 2021 in Parliament.
This events are self inflicted. Many people who forethought this anomaly has raised issues on 7th January when all the deputies were unanimously selected and endorsed. Those with the eyes of an eagle has seen events of this nature ahead. Even the eve of 7th January incidents in Parliament forecasted such happening. Small details matter in contemporary politics. A hungry dog never throws a bone on the way of a dog in possession of the real meat unless it has an intent of snatching the meat.
The Minority and the NDC has shown--with the events in the 8th Parliament--greater strategic foresight. They've snatched the piecemeal from the Majority. They showed little details matter. On the other hand, the Majority who has shown good sense of elitism seemed left with no escape route in this quagmire. The events relating to the 2022 Budget has shown that the Majority should deploy a more diplomatic strategy to get their policies approved than a knee jack approach currently used.
Going forward, the majority needs to restrategize, replan and think through their modus operandi to enable them navigate the stormy waters of the 8th Parliament. The harm has already been done. In the words of Joseph Osei Owusu, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, whose hand witness the chaos, "today's Parliament lacked intellectualism." It is an ideal shared by the Majority Leader of the 7th and 8th Parliaments. Hence the need for tact and diplomacy.
In as much as Democracies are peaceful, it has its unlikey consequences. Ghana has also gotten it fare share of the negatives already. Both at general elections and in Parliament. There is the need for the Country to start building strong institutions. Democracy is a process that grows and mature. Ghana's Parliament must imbibe the ideals of democracy; consultation, dialogue, tolerance and consensus building.
By Al-Latif Kambo-Naa
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