Predicting The Speaker’s Gavel

We can bet the Deputy Minority Chief Whip Iddrisu Habib was not surprised at the dismissal of his request for an ad hoc probe into the cocaine cases which have enveloped the country in recent times.

Most Ghanaians on both sides of the political divides expected the direction of the Speaker on the matter.

While National Democratic Congress (NDC) members saw in such a dismissal an opportunity to let sleeping dogs lie so the back of the party will be covered, their New Patriotic Party (NPP) counterparts knew and rightly so that the Speaker would rather mitigate the image ordeal his mother party is enduring today.

Regardless of the legalese and references to Standing Orders and all that, the Speaker has not been under the circumstances convincing.

Previous precedents have exposed the Speaker's double standards when matters of this magnitude hit his desk.

Indeed, had the Speaker admitted the request of the Minority as presented on their behalf by the Tolon Member of Parliament (MP), we would have been extremely surprised. In almost cases which have to do with political moralities, it is always predictable the direction of the pendulum of the Speaker's authority.

Prioritisation of the interests of the NDC, not Ghana's, is paramount and nothing else.

The President and his party did not expect the Speaker to act otherwise when Parliament was convened.

Unfortunately for the Speaker, previous actions of his when issues were simultaneously in the judiciary and the legislature saw a varying decision. These are verifiable, triggering questions of integrity under the circumstances.

The absence of finesse in the Speaker's ruling compelled many to observe his political colours, which should have been cleverly concealed.

The public conversation on the issue is ongoing and, for some, it is an indictment on the manner very serious issues are managed under the current political leadership in the country.

Mr. Speaker when the LGBTQI+ issue was sent to court by Richard Sky and others insisted on the President signing the bill. It was the position of the former President at the time that since an action was before the court, he could not proceed with appending his signature to the bill.

This position was disputed by the Speaker. His denial of the Minority's position therefore smacks of moral questions.

In the case of the Kpandai Constituency controversy, Matthew Nyindam, the MP, was in court and demanded of the Speaker not to declare the seat vacant as doing so was ultra vires.

The Speaker ignored the standards and ordered the Electoral Commission to declare the seat vacant to pave the way for a by-election.

It took a superior ruling to quash the Speaker's wish.

The cocaine saga has been offered a predictable boost, one which would send an encouraging signal to the Escobars who have already found in Ghana a fertile ground for the advancement of the business.