Accra, Ghana//-Speakers at Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) round-table have warned that criminals including drug barons would soon takeover Ghana’s Parliament and the Executive if the unbridled monetisation of elections in the country does not stop.
The former Member of Parliament (MP) for Gomoa West in the Central Region, Alexander Abban who gave the warning and was supported by the three other speakers- an International Trade Consultant and Global Politics Enthusiast, Maame Awinador-Kanyirige; former NDC MP and Minister of State, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini; and the Executive Director of CDD-Ghana, Prof. H. Kwasi Prempeh.
Discussing the topic: ‘Expectations Vs. Reality-Navigating the Unique Composition of the 8th Parliament’, they were alarmed at the levels of financial inducement at the just-ended constituency and regional elections of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
But Mr Abban noted that the monetisation of elections and politics in general is not akin to only the current governing party alone.
Diminishing quality of MPs
They observed that the monetisation phenomenon has diminished the quality of MPs in the Ghanaian Parliament. It is no more about the one who has good ideas or the wise one; it is rather about the one who has money to buy his or her into Parliament, according to them.
Mr Abban who blamed his lost in the 2020 parliamentary election to his inability to attend funerals and other social events, lamented: “These days delegates are not doing well to help political parties or the country. You have delegates who will rather vote for people with no ideas but ready to pay money than people who actually have ideas and can help”.
“I was booted out because I was not attending funerals. We need to do education and let the people understand the work of a parliamentarian. The education must go down well. If not we will always get people who are not qualified to go to parliament and offer nothing”.
Mr Abban and his co-speakers therefore used the occasion to call on Ghanaians to get better people into Parliament to champion for the socio-economic development of their constituencies and the country at large.
Mixed expectations of hung Parliament
Touching on the expectations of the current hung Parliament of 137 NPP MPs and 137 NDC MPs and an Independent MP who has decided to pay allegiance to the NPP side, Mr Abban said he had expected the norm of the Majority in Parliament to do whatever they want to go on unchecked, while the Minority in Parliament tries to frustrate government business in the august House would continue.
According to him, the change in the status quo did not change the expectations of the MPs on both sides. This is because there were no consultations in the House, he explained.
“We succeeded in making a change in terms of numbers but we did not succeed in changing the mindset of our politicians. Once that was the case, there was no way things were going to be different in the 8th Parliament. The discussions should not be on the numbers but the motives of the politicians and the mindset of citizens as well,” Mr Abban emphasised.
“Those on the side of the government were not ready to scrutinize things from the Executive. They do things as usual. But this hung Parliament should have given us a very rare opportunity to look at things from the nationalistic point of view”, Mr Abban noted.
However, Alhaji Fuseini said his expectation of the 8th Parliament was met because it was able to delay the passage of passing of the Electronic Transfer Levy Act, 2022 (Act 1075) popularly called in E-Levy for more than two months.
On 17th November 2021, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, in his presentation of the 2022 budget to the Parliament, proposed the implementation of a 1.75% electronic levy (subsequently reduced to 1.50%) on electronic transactions that surpass GHS 100 per day.
According to the Minister of Finance, the implementation of this levy forms part of the proposed fiscal policy measures that “underpin the 2022 budget and support the fiscal consolidation and growth agenda”.
The purpose of the E-Levy as previously stated among other things was to accrue more tax revenue for the nation by serving as an opportunity for every Ghanaian to support the government’s nation building efforts.
Alhaji Fuseini added that the delay of the passage and its subsequent implementation afforded the Majority MPs and the Ministers of State (Executive) to organize town hall meetings across greater parts of the country to engage the citizens on the E-Levy. This, according to him, increased the citizens’ knowledge on the levy.
“This Parliament is not about one party frustrating the other. This Parliament is totally different. In the beginning of the Akufo-Addo regime (7th Parliament), walkouts by the Minority did not stop the Majority from carrying forward its motions”.
He added that with this hung Parliament, the Majority could not treat the Minority with contempt. So, it has reduced or even ended impunity in the legislature.
“Again in the history of Ghana, the Minority was able to elect the Speaker in the person of Alban Bagbin.
It was a given that the Speaker always came from the governing party. But the Minority NDC was able to galvanize forces to elect the Speaker. Therefore, this 8th Parliament is unlike any other”, Alhaji Fuseini argued.
Prof Prempeh who agreed largely with Alhaji Fuseini added that “Parliament over the years has been a reactive institution reacting to the initiatives of the Executive. So basically, it is the Executive business that is largely conducted in Parliament”.
“I did expect that given the outcome of the elections 2020, that we would see a different kind of posture from the Executive in the way it is related to Parliament not just because of the 137 for NPP and 137NDC MPs” and the independent who had decided to work with the NPP, making it the Majority in Parliament.
Ms Awinador-Kanyirige said her expectation was not met based on the simple balance of power.
Relook democracy
It is a high time for the country to relook at its democracy and engage the youth to inspire development, she stated.
In her own words: “People are in Parliament that they don’t even understand parliamentary democracy. We have to relook at our democracy and unpack it. We need technocrats. In ten years we will sit in a room like clowns to complain about the same things if we do not change.
“We need to move beyond dialogue. CSOs must continue advocating, religious bodies must help. Let’s engage the young and take action to change the things holding us back,” Ms Awinador-Kanyirige stressed.
The round-table discussion organised by the CDD-Ghana sought to initiate a conversation that would begin to address the concerns citizens may have about preserving the country’s democracy and its associated implications on development in the face of the exception composition and permutation of parliament both at present and in the future.
This was in response to the challenges arising from the unique composition of the almost ‘evenly-split’ 8th Parliament of the Fourth Republic, which often leads to a stalemate, thus affecting the smooth running of the business in the house and the performance of its functions, according to the Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement of CDD-Ghana, Dr Kojo Asante.
African Eye Report
