Politics of ex gratia

Being prepared for the worst is always one thing; confronting its stark actualization is another. There is a point at which the mind threatens to fold up, succumbing to its own destructive power of evocation. Wole Soyinka

There is an Akan saying to the effect that "yeye dee ehia ansa na yeaye dee efata", meaning we do what is necessary or essential before what could be desirable or adoring. But because our world is not perfect and we have to be real human at times, our elders maintain that "se yewo a, ye didi" to wit we eat even when we have children and that "se w'afuo so a, woye ne nyinaa".

For as long as our needs and wants do not coincide all the time and we are constrained by resources, we have to make choices and at times we may have to give priority to what is adorable than what is essential. That is the human nature.

When former President John Agyekum Kufuor decided on the Presidential Palace, the Jubilee House, there were some Ghanaians including the leadership of the National Democratic Congress, who derided the project because in their opinion, the money would have been better used on potable water or educational infrastructure.

Last week, the First Lady, Mrs Naadu Mills commenced the distribution of free school uniforms. It turned out that the first beneficiaries attend classes under palm fronds. So the argument, between the uniforms and classrooms, which is most important as a development tool? If it should rain, what might happen? Indeed, it could be the absence of a school block, rather than the poverty of their parents which attracted the attention of the government.

What it boils down to is that our priorities, needs and wants may never be congruent. We may never be able to prioritise our needs in a straight-jacket sense. The bottom line is who is taking the decision at any given time. Therefore, those in government must never present their wishes as superior to that of their opponents, but rather as alternatives, and leave the people to describe their decisions thereafter.

Political activists and government functionaries must get focussed and get the work of governance done to the best of their abilities. Our government functionaries must not be part of the rumours. The average Ghanaian thinks that his choices must always be the best and everything else would be degraded. We like character assassination.

As Wole Soyinka says of the average Nigerian "I doubt very much if any people in the world can match the conglomeration called Nigeria in the propensity of its inhabitants towards the game of character denigration - it is all part of a justly remarked creative energy, unfortunately much of it is a negative even self-destructive temper. This brand of the abuse of inventive energy has driven many valuable individuals away from any form of civic commitment or public service".

It is against the unjustifiable creation of a wedge between our people and public service that we need to openly debate the issue of the politics surrounding the payment of ex gratia to officials under Article 71 (2), who served under the Kufuor administration.

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Our sitting MPs may be satisfied that they have been paid their end of service benefit under the fourth parliament of the Fourth Republic. But it is unfortunate that they have failed to act as a fundamental responsibility for which they took their ex gratia.

The irony is that, whereas the actions of the President have stalled the payment of ex gratia to the Article 71 (2) public office holders, which lies outside his mandate, he has fulfilled his obligations for the Article 71 (1) office holders. It is thus the authority of Parliament which has been impugned and yet, as a people, we still look up to the President rather than Parliament for the resolution of this needless constitutional aberration.

Our Presidents are expected to appoint the committee which makes recommendations for the service conditions of public office holders under Article 71. However, the recommendations of the committee must be in two parts, one for the President and the other for Parliament.

The President is mandated to determine the emoluments for the Speaker, Deputy Speakers, MPs, Chief Justice and justices of the Superior Court of judicature, Auditor-General, Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen and members of the Electoral Commission, CHRAJ, NCCE, NMC; National Council for Higher Education, Public Services Commission, Lands Commission and the Administrator of the District Assembly Common Fund.

On the other hand, "the salaries, allowances payable and the facilities available to the President, Vice-President, Chairman and the other members of the Council of State, Ministers of State, Deputy Ministers, being expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund, shall be determined by Parliament".

So, the ball is in the court of Parliament, not the President to see to it that the Article 71 (2) office holders get their due. There is no provision in the Constitution that the President could unilaterally arrest a decision of Parliament. In that regard, Parliament must act and we must hold the legislature responsible.

If Parliament wants to assist the President to undermine the law, the House must act in just the same way that some district assemblies helped the President to breach their regulations in the appointment of district chief executives.

They must not fail in appreciating the say¬ing that when you are eating the arms of a monkey, you must pause to observe your arm because "abaa yede boo Takyi no, yede bebo Baa".

Credit: Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh/Daily Graphic