The Ameri Deal Calls For A Second Chamber Parliament

The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Aaron Oquaye shares the views of Safe Democracy Ghana that we need to reconstitute the Council of State from the way it is done today to give credence to our political evolution and give meaning to balance of power such that, contracts the Parliament of Ghana enters into can be authenticated and validated by another house such that we do not flip flop contracts we enter into as a nation and finally begrudge our ineptitude to political partisanship.

Democracy is a culture with its twigs and colours. In the absence of any of the twigs other names are given to it other than the term “democracy”. Because of the good of its kindling it becomes a legacy worthy of emulation and it gives credence to promulgate it throughout the world as system that gives reasons to be adopted as a culture to human political administration.

Such is it that the people of Ghana have thought it wise to practice democracy against our own God given culture which in itself is a model of political system.

But then, every now and then, a change of government democratically brings other scores of hardships unto the people of Ghana especially those who had won contracts during the time of the outgoing government.

As a result of judgement debts rapt, the exercise of power of the successive governments finally stretches to affect the entire Ghanaian society where those contracts were awarded according to dictates of the enacted laws of the Parliament of Ghana, noting that, parliament and government as well, are of perpetual successions nature and since the inception of the 1992 constitution, majority and leadership of the house has always been occupied by either the NDC or NPP.

On succeeding President Rawlings, President Kuffour abrogated a lot many contracts awarded by President Rawlings that landed Ghana before the International Arbitration Court where we paid undisclosed amount of dollars. President Kuffour refused to use some items procured for the use of the Executive by President Rawlings. When President Mills won the Presidency, he also challenged some contracts awarded by President Kuffour and paid some judgements debts as results of contracts President Kuffour awarded which they thought was abnormal.

Today President Akuffo Addo has questioned the Ameri contract. He has instituted a commission to check on the integrity of the Ameri contract that got awarded through the scrutiny of the Parliament of Ghana, the Cabinet and the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama.

Among the recommendation of Addison Commission are that, a percentage of the total sum be reduced or the government of Nana Addo must abrogate the contract.

If the reasoning of the commission be upheld and the monies got reduced or the contract get abrogated like the previous deals that got abrogated by previous governments, then it is for the people of Ghana to wise up and accept the incompetency of our governments since the inception of the 1992.

If the Addison Commission is right in its conclusion and recommendation, then all other contracts awarded in the last eight years and beyond needed be revisited and reviewed to ascertain a balance of culpability and where it needed be directed to.

If similar outcome of ineptitude supposedly begets the results of commissions created to look into previous contracts awarded and, or if those anomalies are found to be in greater percentage of contracts awarded by previous governments then we would comfortably conclude that, the services rendered by the total sum of 275 members of Parliament made up of the NDCs and NPPs becomes meaningless, worthless, futile, unwarranted and we must be fast awake to protect political administrative turbulence in the near future by reconstituting our arms of government.

The pillars of democratic evolution to serve purpose without any encumbrances are the political stalk moulding system of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The legislature being the composite pillar of democracy that serves the executive and the judiciary at the same time is made up of the entire societal representation and it has always been divided to give meaning to how society sees itself, “the rich and the wellborn and the other the masses”. Anything done against this rule for constitutional economy or political expediency fails the society for which the constitution was created for.

The United Kingdom and the United States have dual chamber parliaments and so are France and Germany. In exception of Nebraska, all of the 50 states that make up the United States of America have dual chamber parliaments and so are almost all the western countries one can boast of.

It is therefore regretful that, the Ghana Council of State is only an advisory body and the composition of majority of the members are to reward loyalist of the President who also won his seat by having a political party sponsored him/her to that office.

It is also interesting a Second Chamber Parliament is necessary and we must uphold and reconstitute the arms of government, especially the Council of State such that, every deliberations of the Parliament of Ghana shall be considered and approved by the Second House before it becomes law and in terms of contracts before it is validated.

The composition of the house must meet the description given by the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye, formally second deputy speaker of the Parliament of Ghana in a publication of the IEA Vol. 19 No.5 September/October 2013 “Addressing the Imbalance of Power Between the Arms of Government , A Search For Countervailing Authority”

That is the only way we can safeguard our integrity and protect our democratic evolution.

Long live Ghana long live our democracy
Munir Saani