Consensus building in national politics!

One of the major benefits of the vote of December 7, 2016, is the re-emergence of politics as a consensus building event. The Minority in Parliament heckled President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo when he presented the State of the Nation Address to the House on Tuesday. There were the usual scenes of Majority members cheering on the Head of State, while the Minority raised a number of concerns.

Beyond that, there was a general unity of purpose, with two former heads of state and one ex-vice-president listening attentively as invited guests. There was Flt-Lt. Jerry John Rawlings and his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings. Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor, with his walking stick, was a notable presence. So was immediate past Vice-President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur. The only absentee was Mr. John Dramani Mahama, who, we learn, is still outside the country.

It is great to note that there is a certain realisation that politics does not need to divide us, and that is a healthy sign. We learn too that the new administration has started paying ex-gratia to ministers and other appointees who deserve to be paid under Article 71, virtually on the quiet. Not too long ago, payment of ex-gratia became a big struggle. For a long time, ex-President Kufuor and his staff were denied their monthly wages.

The Chronicle has not benefitted from any information from the National Democratic Congress secretariat in Accra, but we can speculate that the decision by the party to abandon its proposed protest march in Accra on Friday, February 24, cannot be unconnected with the emerging camaraderie in national politics since President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo occupied Government House.

Many political observers believed the new administration would change the name of the Flagstaff House to Jubilee House, the moment President Akufo-Addo took occupancy.  However, Nana Akufo-Addo has cleverly stayed away from the controversy, suggesting in his State of the Nation address that consensus-building is necessary on the issue. He also intimated that the nation ought to look at the Founder's Day celebration, in order to collectively celebrate all those who contributed in founding the nation.

So far, the political temperature that reached boiling point as Ghanaians prepared for the vote, has reduced significantly. In Christian doctrine, one could sing Ebenezer, that is how far God has brought us.

In an emerging democracy as our own, it is fool-hardy to expect everything moving peacefully. The activities of a few foot soldiers, in the case of the ruling New Patriotic Party, the security apparatus known as the 'Invincibles', is creating a problem or two, which need to be dealt with.

The Chronicle has learned that the police officer allegedly assaulted by some renegade members of this party's security service, has declined interest in pursuing any charge against the perpetrators of the alleged assault against his person. All the same, we would like to believe that it is possible for some form of discipline to be initiated against identifiable members of the mob who visited mayhem on the said police officer.

We believe this will serve as a warning to those who would want to take the law into their own hands in the future. We would like to believe too that the threat issued by the leadership of the NDC at their press conference in Accra, yesterday, that they are waiting for the 2017 budget statement to punch holes into it, is the usual political rhetoric which spices the political game.

As they say, the opposition would have their say, while the government of the day would always have its way!