Before the swearing-in of honourable MPs on December 7, 2020, the election of the Speaker kept Ghanaians awake through out the night. Many Ghanaians with varied interest had their hearts full with either anger or joy as Rt. Hon. Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin emerged victorious.
Given that majority of ministers must come from parliament, many argue that governmet business will be affected because the minority will prove recalcitrant. Some also say parliament as it is now is a good omen for Ghana as government cannot just push through any unpopular business using its numbers. Many wish this kind of parliament is maintained into the unforseable future.
The burden put on the minority was so heavy for the neck unless a substantial support from the citizenry is met. The minority can resist all irrational policies government would want to carry through but without the word of the media, civil society and the general populace, not much can be achieved.
Kenya is a very good example. Recently, abled young men and women poured into the streets forcing government to back down on its determination to implement a new Finance Bill that imposes tax on bread. This is the support the then NDC minority need from Ghanaians and if there is any, then it is too little.
The minority were left to their fate to fight for the interest of all of us all alone. This is not possible because the minority do not have the support of other state organs or institutions that are critical to ensuring that good governance prevails. They cannot also do the parliamentary work and still do all the street demonstrations.
The government cannibals realizing Ghanaians are weak in supporting the minority have succeeded in implementing policies however unpopular they have become. Unpopular taxes and tax exemptions, self serving loan agreements, state capturing business agreements, cruel appointments among others were all carried through.
Some few examples will better explain the fact that the citizenry betrayed the minority in their course to fight for the collective good. First, the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) was not resisted with any encouraging momentum. The minority were left to kill this levy for us while most enjoy the snoring.
The Nana-Bawumia government in 2021 introduced E-Levy in the 2021 budget. This they say will bring in enough revenue to improve the fiscal position of the government. Debt to GDP was 76.6 percent and fiscal deficit was 14 percent in 2021. In fact, there was no fiscal space to breath. The only option left was to go to the IMF but the government through pandemic propaganda decided to deceive Ghanaians into believing that IMF was devilish projecting the E-Levy as the messiah.
The minority did well to reject the budget but the government had it overturned through the First Deputy Speaker, Joe Osei Owusu. Town hall meetings were held to explain to Ghanaians why the E-Levy was the messiah but not IMF. It remains a wonder why Ghanaians will ask the minority to reject the passage of the E-Levy bill but participate in town hall meetings to discuss same.
The E-Levy was passed through the support of Ghanaians but the messiah did not stop the impending IMF journey. Ghana went to the IMF on wheel chairs and this resulted in a painful debt exchange with many including pensioneers loosing their principals on government risk free bonds for the first time ever.
Also significant is the ‘Coward rebel group’ of the NPP MPs led by Andy Appiah-Kubi, MP for Asante Akyem North. They asked for the sacking of Ken Ofori-Atta, the then Finance Minister who also doubles as the President’s cousin for incompetence. They claimed they risk loosing their seats if he should continue.
This motivated the NDC minority to put in a motion of censure to kick him out of office. The u-turn was shocking and this is a betrayal worthy of of the ‘Guinness World Records.’ Despite this, the minority succeeded in the censure motion but the president never minded to sack his cousin. Instead of lashing the government and helping push for the President cousin’s exit, the minority was rather lashed.
Not only the Finance Minister but several ministers and other appointees were under performing. The president jumped into their defence claiming some people were eyeing their positions. In all of these, Ghanaians were mute while ‘celebrating their suffering.’
There are several examples one can point to explain the Ghanaian betrayal of the minority. From Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill to minority walk to the Electoral Commission head office to the court wrongly removing James Gyakye Quayson from parliament to the persecution of Dr. Ato Forson in court to the four MPs vacating parliament to many more.
The minority’s effort at ensuring that Ghanaians get the best out of them is further weakened by the posture of state institutions including the judiciary and security services. The courts for instance have become an opaque wall preventing parliament’s touch from shining on the executive. President Nana Addo and the executive arm always run to the courts to take cover if the majority failed to have their way.
A hanged parliament is good for a growing and evolving democracy like ours but we cannot sit aloof for the opposition parliamentarians to do it all for us. Unless we lend a supporting hand, many of the policies they fight against will not yield any dividend. Lessons from Kenya are very critical if we want a hanged parliament to succeed.
Source: Taluta Gbanha Mahama | Contributor |Sissala West
