The growth of Ghana’s democracy, the role of the 8th parliament

RECALLING THE incidents that characterized the dawn of the 8^th parliament of the republic of Ghana STILL LEAVES ME CONFUSED. Even though some of the events appeared awkward and unpleasant, WHICH for that matter must be condemn and punitive measures ISSUED where necessary. Other actions should be encouraged to ensure the growth of parliament as far as the democracy of our beloved country is concerned. As a student of politics, I wish to draw your attention to some of these important happenings alluded to in the opening lines of this article and justify in my opinion why those actions should be of concern.

Let me THEN use this opportunity to extend my heartfelt gratitude to individuals who read my earlier write-up, “Political Advice: A Message to Nana Addo” and more importantly, offered advice and encouragement to continue the good work. I am therefore very hopeful that, this will meet your expectations and address your concerns and also offer some education to the general populace.

As required and demanded by the fourth republican constitution of Ghana, the mandate of the elected representative shall be renewed or otherwise, every four years through a general election which is usually conducted and supervise by the electoral commission of Ghana. As the clock ticked, the time was due, and the electorate sent a strong message to the elected representative in a pole that ended successfully with some pocket of violence and some alleged malpractices and illegalities resulting in the main opposition party rejecting the outcome so declared by the electoral commissioner and had since file a petition with the supreme court of the land regarding the presidential poles seeking some reliefs. The case is not different with the parliamentary elections as both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the New Democratic Party (NDC) crowning themselves as having the majority seats in parliament.

In a very short time, what looks like a determination on the number of seats won by the various political parties has been ascertained. The electoral commissioner has released a press statement detailing the number of seats per party per region which is summarized as 137 for each political party and 1 independent candidate bringing the total number to 275. The above situation is what is described as a hung parliament. A hung parliament can therefore be explained as a legislative house in which no political party has enough seat to form a clear majority in the house. It should be noted that, this is the first time the Ghanaian parliament is experiencing this. It is indeed true that, “ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find” as explicitly stated in verse 7 of the gospel of Mathew chapter 7 of the holy bible. Ghanaians have for a long time yearned for the situation described above, many of whom wished for a period in Ghanaian political history where a different political party controls the affairs of the legislature, with another managing the affairs of the state. It is long overdue, and the day is here: the 8^th parliament of the fourth republic of Ghana. This can be justified by the outcome of some of the electoral results from the December 2020 general election where in some constituencies, the electorate voted for a member of parliament sponsored by a different political party and voted for a presidential candidate sponsored by another party, this is known as skirt and blouse in the Ghanaian context. The Hohoe, Savelugu, Cape-coast north, Damango, Akwatia, Akim Oda, are few but quintessential example of constituencies that had sent the message of effective collaboration between government and parliament by voting skirt and blouse. Honorable Haruna Idrisu, the minority leader in the 7^th Parliament of the fourth republican era once said: “I am looking forward to a day where political parties would have equal strength in this house”. Indeed, the day is finally here but it should be noted that, he who calls for a torrential rain cannot be excluded from experiencing the havoc that usually comes with it.

After realizing the meaning of the outcome of the 2020 general election, the president elect, Nana Addo acknowledged in his victory speech, the need for effective collaboration on the side of parliament and the executive arm of government. This I believe would set the tone for deliberations leading to the inauguration of the 8^th parliament. However, in a rather disturbing situation, what we observed is the unfortunate language and posture of the political party of the president elect. The general secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. John Boadu said, “if the New Democratic Party (NDC) fail to cooperate with them, they will forfeit the opportunity to have a representative as a deputy speaker” and this was published on starFM online.com. As if this is not enough, the Majority leader in the 7^th Parliament, Mr. Osei-Kyee Mensah Bonsu in responding to his colleague Honorable idrisu describe their position of forming the majority side of parliament as a dream, rubbishing the notion of a hung parliament. This unfortunately is not the languages to be used when trying to preach the message of collaboration and working together as opposing parties in the greater interest of the country.

Well, this can also be seen as the use of executive power to intimidate the opposition party in parliament, and this exemplify what can be call (the show of power). The two political parties were also involved in several legal battles aimed at reducing the numerical strength of the other. Injunctions from Amewu’s Hohoe to Adjei Mensah’s Tekyiman south through to Kofi Adam’s Boem, however, none of these were successful. But in a turnaround situation, some members from the NPP which is the party in government were able to secure a last hour injunction, a court order restraining the member of parliament elect of the Asin north honorable James gyakye queson from holding himself as MP elect and not to be sworn in as such. These power play and the numerous issues raised above are the factors that set the tone for the several ‘power struggle’ that unfold in the early hours of the 8^th parliament which are discussed below.

As our wise sages rightly assert, coming events they say cast their own shadows. Knowing what the former majority side of the house had plan to do, the NDC side of the house came earlier and seated on the right side of the house, where the former majority use to sit, a situation which would begin the drama of the day. When the NPP side arrived, they realized the NDC MPs has occupied their sitting place and largely moved to the other side, but few of their members including Esla Owusu, would not agree to this which led to the first controversy of the night. When the main business of the house commenced, they decided to start with a legal battle, when the NPP side raised the issue of a court order restraining the Asin north MP from being in the house. They went forth and back until a final determination where the clerk superintending over the affairs of the night cleared the house of any illegality and hence, the member in question would bear such consequences should there be any. However, the NDC opted for the option that, they would prefer to err at the law than to lose a member at the house at the time. They argued that the individual in question has not been properly served. Besides, he was on his way to parliament, hence, cannot be served with a court order. This is how the MP elect ended up sitting through the entire section, a decision whose consequences would be unfolding in the near future.

The hit of the moment then came where both parties would present their candidate for the speakership position. Indeed, when you see a bird dancing in the middle of a road, do not assume it is mad, rather, its drummers are in the bush nearby. Since there is no majority side in the chamber to put forward a candidate for the speakership, which has been the norm in the previous parliament, the NDC first propose Alban SK Gbagbin, who had served in all the previous 7 parliament and also served as the 2^nd deputy speaker in the just dissolved house. His long-standing relationship with members from both side of the assembly cannot be under-estimated giving the NDC some hope and confidence going into the race. The NPP on the other hand settled on Professor Aaron Mike oquay as their candidate for the race. The NPP’s hope for victory on the night further heightened because the independent candidate had agreed to toe their line during decision making given them a lean advantage.

Voting then began but the NDC would not agree for the process to continue if the rules and the standing orders of the house governing the process would not be adhered to. They insisted that the secrecy of the votes should be ensured as stipulated in article 104-4 and standing order 9-1 of the house. But the NPP would like to go by the whip system, this implied that the chief whip of the side would monitor and ensure that, all members vote for the party’s preferred candidate by paying close gaze at the vote cast of their members. The process started again after resolving the initial differences that arose. In no time, the NDC’s chief whip honorable Muntaka interrupted the process again by taking the ballot box. This was in protest to the NPP side who were showing their votes to their whip hence, violating the standing order of the house. This led to some confusion between the two whips of the different side of the house. After a short period, the process kickstarted again, but for the third time, the voting process was disrupted. At this time, members of this august house were seen destroying the voting screens and the ballot box, thereby truncating the process. It is rather unfortunate that, these individuals, members of parliament elect, people of good standing in the society cannot understand each other and solve this little difference of ensuring secrecy of votes. It is also unbelievable why the NPP side of the house cannot trust themselves and at all time would have to show their votes. A very simple issue that was solved by some primary school pupils when I took them through a similar drill the next day.

In 2011, about some ten years ago when I stood for a school prefect position at avakpedome Junior high school and had to go through a similar process. Although all the candidates were close friends, the voting was done in a very cordial environment and the votes were casted in secrecy without any difficulty. We had no whips, but the results were accepted by all parties and at the end, all the candidate put their strength together in running the school. But the 8^th parliament are struggling to come to a common ground. In the midst of the confusion, there appeared the presence of the state policemen to maintain order, a situation which is unfortunate. Parliament has its own arrangement in terms of maintaining order. The marshal department of parliament in responsible for internal security of parliament and hence, maintain order in the house. It is therefore unacceptable for the police officers to be invited into the chamber. Another question is, under whose authority were the police officers acting because at the time this is incident happened, there is no speaker who in difficult moment can invite these officers into the chamber. Also, the ministerial powers of all state ministers had expired and thee is no executive to have issued such a command. Who might have staged this unfortunate episode?

Subsequently, the police officers were withdrawn and what looked like a calm atmosphere was prevailing over the house through the intervention of honorable KT Hamond, an experience member of the house. But this was only a camouflage since the common grounds was not reached and there emerged other officers in the house. This time around, they were men from the armed forces, the military officers who were heavily armed and some “masked to their teeth”. This is completely unacceptable and an affront to democracy. It can also be described as an attack on the constitution of Ghana and should be condemned all day. The rivalry between the military and parliament since independent has been unfriendly and conflictual especially when the military take to their weapons and ammunitions during a civilian rule. Anytime there is a military coup-d-etat, it is the legislative house that suffer the most. It is completely dissolved yet the other arm of governments remains but with new people replacing the old in the executive arm. Parliament has since been dissolved on four different occasion retarding its development. Parliament is a place where laws and rules are enacted, as a result, they disagree to agree. Even if the disagreement become so intense, they know how to solve it. It does not call for guns or even the presence of military to get their disagreement solved. The leopard and the lion may have their differences; however, they do not set the forest that shelter them ablaze. It is therefore bizarre to have the military invade parliament in the name of maintaining order. Could it be the case that the executive powers are been displayed to intimidate the NDC side of the house? Could this lay further credence to the allegation of the NDC in which they claim the military were used by the governing party to force some officials from the electoral commission to change certain result at a gun point during the 2020 general election? It is very important for the powers that be to note that, the main task of the military is to protect the territorial boundary of the country against any external aggression and should not be involved in civil affairs. The military high command should be queried, we should be able to identify the person under whose command those officers acted.

Up until this time, the MP elects do not seek to know what a secret ballot is or want to violate the principles of the house which has led to these unfortunate incidents. The leadership then went into a meeting to iron out their differences and reach a common agreement. When they came back, voting was done, sorting followed and counting began shortly. Another tragic drama soon ensued after counting the first ballot papers belonging to prof Mike Oquay. Knowing what the outcome is, the MP elect for Tema west, hon Carlos Ahenkorah went to the counting table to pick a handful of the ballot papers belonging to hon Gbagbin which are yet to be counted and took to his hill. After another long meeting by the leadership of the house, a final determination was made, and some compromises were reached. What can be described as a drama on the floor of parliament has ended and Gbagbin has won the election to become the speaker of the 8^th parliament. Indeed, no matter how intriguing an Asafo dance may be, its drummers and dancers would not sleep at the market square, they would surely retire home.

A history has been made as the speaker of the house comes from the opposition party, the first time in the history of the fourth republican regime. Both sides of the house became calm as the other processes were followed, what could have been done in less than 2 hours, ended up stretching to over 10 hours. Now that parliament is properly constituted it is my recommendation to have the various incidents that unfolded in the night investigated to serve as a guide to the house and where necessary, punitive measure should be triggered, for an elder who allows children to eat python shall not be excluded when it is time to count those who eat the python. It should also be noted that, the growth of Ghana’s parliamentary democracy can attain a higher level largely through this 8^th parliament especially base on how they would handle their differences and build consensus during decision making which would impact the society at large bearing in mind that, there is no a clear majority in the chamber which usually bully the other side with their numeric strength.

Long live Ghana long live our parliamentary democracy.

Collins Yao Losu

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