Features
The day Speaker turned the Chamber into a lecture hall
Friday, December 16, 2021, would go down in history of Ghana’s Parliament. It was the day when the honourable Speaker of Parliament, Rt-Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, for some obvious reasons, decided to turn the Chamber into a complete lecture hall to enlighten members of parliament made up of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) caucuses about the rules and regulations as well as the laws and the Standing Orders of Parliament.
SPEAKER’S APOLOGY TO GHANAIANS
Incensed by the controversies and brouhaha that transpired in parliament during his absence to seek medical attention in Dubai in the latter part of last year, Speaker Bagbin did not mince words when he apologised to Ghanaians and subsequently condemned members of parliament for the nasty incidents recorded in the House and also for flagrantly flouting and undermining the laws of parliament as well as the Standing Orders that regulate their operations in the Chamber.
LECTURING THE PARLIAMENTARIANS
Behaving like a professor and lecturer addressing his students, the Speaker took his time to dissect the laws of parliament as crafted in the 1992 Constitution, how they regulate and affect the operations and activities in the house, the roles of the substantive Speaker and his two Deputies in the absence of the Speaker as well as actions and setbacks that infringe procedures and processes in the House. It was so interesting and delightful to watch on our television screens as the entire members of parliament kept their silence with attentive ears to listen to the wise counsel by the Number One Gentleman in our August parliament.
The Speaker drew an inference on governance by using himself as an example of the President of Ghana who had sought permission to travel outside the country on official assignment. In his absence, the Vice President, the Number Two Gentleman of the land who stepped in as the caretaker president used his powers to reverse certain decisions that had been taken by the president. He asked whether that would not automatically undermine the authority of the president as stipulated by the law and create a constitutional crisis in the country, thereby affecting governance?
CONTROVERSIES OVER THE PASSAGE OF THE 2022 BUDGET
Apparently, Speaker Bagbin was making reference to the recent brouhaha in parliament over his earlier decision concerning the rejection of the 2022 Budget and the subsequent decision by the Second Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu, Member of Parliament for Bekwai Constituency who sat in the Speaker’s chair during his absence to reverse the rejection decision by the Speaker with what could be described as controversial due processes and procedures and to allow the Majority to approve that same budget, even though the Minority had earlier raised certain objections in the document. That was the genesis of the controversies that sparked off in parliament.
This is not the time to go forward and back about the controversies surrounding the rejection and subsequent approval of the budget because the matter has been largely dealt with.
The Speaker made it clear that having taken his time to read the Order Paper, votes and proceedings and the official reports of the days on the issue, he felt convinced that members should accept the view of conscience of the nation that they owed Ghanaians an apology and he had proceeded to do just that assignment.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR MPs ABERRATIONS
He said as Head of Parliament, the voice of the Legislature, who speaks for and on behalf of Parliament, hence the title Speaker, he had with all humility apologised on behalf of the House and members for the aberrations of conduct and behaviour of members on those days. According to him he had taken responsibility for what happened in the House and admitted that the House was neither dignified nor exalted by those unruly behaviour of members. He promised to do everything within his power and authority to lead the House to chart a path of transformation, decency and change for the better. He proceeded to state that the conduct of members on those days touched on the legality of decisions arrived at in the House and how they arrived at those decisions. That, he said, would help members to look at those issues dispassionately, in humility, devoid of egos and partisanship.
ALLOWING 1992 CONSTITUTION TO REFLECT MPs OPERATIONS
He then advised the MPs to allow the 1992 Constitution, the enabling laws, precedents and Standing Orders of the House to lead the way and urged them to think about how to strengthen the work of parliament and by extension Ghana’s democratic governance. He admonished them to bear in mind that as MPs, they also represented the people-the citizenry-not just political parties. He described what happened in the chamber as grave disorder with its resultant comedy of errors and warned that he would not take lightly a repeat of such disorder and indiscipline in the House.
Indeed, the Speaker has done what is just and right by apologising to the people of Ghana under whose ticket our MPs rode on to where they are now, for the nasty incident that transpired within parliament during his few days of absence in the country and we need to applaud him for that sterling quality and initiative. He has, indeed, proved that he merited the position he is occupying at the moment and Ghanaians appreciated him for the gesture.
INERTIA CREEPING INTO MPs FOLD
It appears that our parliamentarians are filled with some amount of inertia judging from the way they easily forget some of the laws crafted in the 1992 Constitution and their own Standing Orders regarding their operations in the House. That could either be deliberate or they are just doing that to frustrate and circumvent the laws for their selfish agenda and that is most unfortunate.
This particular shortfall in their operations brings to the fore as to whether there has been continuous refresher courses and training programmes to upgrade themselves in parliamentary processes and procedures. The way the leaders of both sides of the House misinterpreted and misrepresented the laws during the last few weeks in the debate and the passage of the 2022 budget, raises doubt about how they are abreast of issues regarding the operations in parliament.
It is the view of many Ghanaians that as law makers, our MPs need to be conversant with what pertains in the law so that they can easily interpret them with ease without any shred of doubt. That is why Ghanaians applaud the Speaker for the initiative and also setting the tone for more education and update to our parliamentarians to be in tune with the changing trends. More of such briefings are needed periodically to sharpen their skills and intellect on parliamentary processes.
MATURITY IS NEEDED IN MPs WORK
It is important to drum home to our MPs that parliament and for that matter our democracy has come of age, and therefore, our MPs who have been selected through the mandate of the people to lead us must behave responsibly and demonstrate resilience, fortitude and forthrightness as they go about their avowed duties in the August House. They must begin to strengthen their channels of communication and interaction, foster dialogue and consensus building, encourage broader stakeholder consultation and allow the process they have adopted to our young democracy to thrive.
AVOIDANCE OF THE UNNECESSARY CONFRONTATIONS
These unnecessary confrontations, confusion, attacks on one another and chaos within parliament must give way to constructive criticisms to promote peace and development in our dear nation. We salute the Speaker for the profound speech and we hope that the MPs will return from their recess fully refreshed to consider issues raised in the Speaker’s address and apply them for their own good.
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By Charles Neequaye
Features
Tears of Ghanaman, home and abroad
The typical native of Sikaman is by nature a hospitable creature, a social animal with a big heart, a soul full of the milk of earthly goodness, and a spirit too loving for its own comfort.
Ghanaman hosts a foreign pal and he spends a fortune to make him very happy and comfortable-good food, clean booze, excellent accommodation and a woman for the night.
Sometimes the pal leaves without saying a “thank you but Ghanaman is not offended. He’d host another idiot even more splendidly. His nature is warm, his spirit benevolent. That is the typical Ghanaian and no wonder that many African-Americans say, “If you haven’t visited Ghana. Then you’ve not come to Africa.
You can even enter the country without a passport and a visa and you’ll be welcomed with a pot of palm wine.
If Ghanaman wants to go abroad, especially to an European country or the United States, it is often after an ordeal.
He has to doze in a queue at dawn at the embassy for days and if he is lucky to get through to being interviewed, he is confronted by someone who claims he or she has the power of discerning truth from lie.
In short Ghanaman must undergo a lie-detector test and has to answer questions that are either nonsensical or have no relevance to the trip at hand. When Joseph Kwame Korkorti wanted a visa to an European country, the attache studied Korkorti’s nose for a while and pronounced judgment.
“The way I see you, you won’t return to Ghana if I allow you to go. Korkorti nearly dislocated her jaw; Kwasiasem akwaakwa. In any case what had Korkorti’s nose got to do with the trip?
If Ghanaman, after several attempts, manages to get the visa and lands in the whiteman’s land, he is seen as another monkey uptown, a new arrival of a degenerate ape coming to invade civilized society. He is sneered at, mocked at and avoided like a plague. Some landlords abroad will not hire their rooms to blacks because they feel their presence in itself is bad business.
When a Sikaman publisher landed overseas and was riding in a public bus, an urchin who had the impudence and notoriety of a dead cockroach told his colleagues he was sure the black man had a tail which he was hiding in his pair of trousers. He didn’t end there. He said he was in fact going to pull out the tail for everyone to see.
True to his word he went and put his hand into the backside of the bewildered publisher, intent on grabbing his imaginary tail and pulling it out. It took a lot of patience on the part of the publisher to avert murder. He practically pinned the white miscreant on the floor by the neck and only let go when others intervene. Next time too…
The way we treat our foreign guests in comparison with the way they treat us is polar contrasting-two disparate extremes, one totally incomparable to the other. They hound us for immigration papers, deport us for overstaying and skinheads either target homes to perpetrate mayhem or attack black immigrants to gratify their racial madness
When these same people come here we accept them even more hospitably than our own kin. They enter without visas, overstay, impregnate our women and run away.
About half of foreigners in this country do not have valid resident permits and was not a bother until recently when fire was put under the buttocks of the Immigration Service
In fact, until recently I never knew Sikaman had an Immigration Service. The problem is that although their staff look resplendent in their green outfit, you never really see them anywhere. You’d think they are hidden from the public eye.
The first time I saw a group of them walking somewhere, I nearly mistook them for some sixth-form going to the library. Their ladies are pretty though.
So after all, Sikaman has an Immigration Service which I hear is now alert 24 hours a day tracking down illegal aliens and making sure they bound the exit via Kotoka International. A pat on their shoulder.
I am glad the Interior Ministry has also realised that the country has been too slack about who goes out or comes into Sikaman.
Now the Ministry has warned foreigners not to take the country’s commitment to its obligations under the various conditions as a sign of weakness or a source for the abuse of her hospitality.
“Ghana will not tolerate any such abuse,” Nii Okaija Adamafio, the Interior Minister said, baring his teeth and twitching his little moustache. He was inaugurating the Ghana Refugee and Immigration Service Boards.
He said some foreigners come in as tourists, investors, consultants, skilled workers or refugees. Others come as ‘charlatans, adventurers or plain criminals. “
Yes, there are many criminals among them. Our courts have tried a good number of them for fraud and misconduct.
It is time we welcome only those who would come and invest or tour and go back peacefully and not those whose criminal intentions are well-hidden but get exposed in due course of time.
This article was first published on Saturday March 14, 1998
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Features
Decisions have consequences
In this world, it is always important to recognise that every action or decision taken, has consequences.
It can result in something good or bad, depending on the quality of the decision, that is, the factors that were taken into account in the decision making.
The problem with a bad decision is that, in some instances, there is no opportunity to correct the result even though you have regretted the decision, which resulted in the unpleasant outcome.
This is what a friend of mine refers to as having regretted an unregretable regret. After church last Sunday, I was watching a programme on TV and a young lady was sharing with the host, how a bad decision she took, had affected her life immensely and adversely.
She narrated how she met a Caucasian and she got married to him. The white man arranged for her to join him after the marriage and processes were initiated for her to join her husband in UK. It took a while for the requisite documentation to be procured and during this period, she took a decision that has haunted her till date.
According to her narration, she met a man, a Ghanaian, who she started dating, even though she was a married woman.
After a while her documents were ready and so she left to join her husband abroad without breaking off the unholy relationship with the man from Ghana.
After she got to UK, this man from Ghana, kept pressuring her to leave the white man and return to him in Ghana. The white man at some point became a bit suspicious and asked about who she has been talking on the phone with for long spells, and she lied to him that it was her cousin.
Then comes the shocker. After the man from Ghana had sweet talked her continuously for a while, she decided to leave her husband and return to Ghana after only three weeks abroad.
She said, she asked the guy to swear to her that he would take care of both her and her mother and the guy swore to take good care of her and her mother as well as rent a 3-bedroom flat for her. She then took the decision to leave her husband and return to Ghana.
She told her mum that she was returning to Ghana to marry the guy in Ghana. According to her, her mother vigorously disagreed with her decision and wept.
She further added that her mum told her brother and they told her that they were going to tell her husband about her intentions.
According to her, she threatened that if they called her husband to inform him, then she would commit suicide, an idea given to her by the boyfriend in Ghana.
Her mum and brother afraid of what she might do, agreed not to tell her husband. She then told her husband that she was returning to Ghana to attend her Grandmother’s funeral.
The husband could not understand why she wanted to go back to Ghana after only three weeks stay so she had to lie that in their tradition, grandchildren are required to be present when the grandmother dies and is to be buried.
She returned to Ghana; the flat turns into a chamber and hall accommodation, the promise to take care of her mother does not materialise and generally she ends up furnishing the accommodation herself. All the promises given her by her boyfriend, turned out to be just mere words.
A phone the husband gave her, she left behind in UK out of guilty conscience knowing she was never coming back to UK.
Through that phone and social media, the husband found out about his boyfriend and that was the end of her marriage.
Meanwhile, things have gone awry here in Ghana and she had regretted and at a point in her narration, was trying desperately to hold back tears. Decisions indeed have consequences.
NB: ‘CHANGE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’
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