President Akufo-Addo (left) exchanging pleasantries with former President Mahama
On January 7, the President and his vice-president were inducted into office for another four-year tenure.
That was after Parliament had elected a new Speaker, from an opposition party, who is expected to lead the Legislature in building a good working relations with the Executive to ensure a smooth rolling out of good governance and development programmes for the good of the country and its people.
While both ceremonies saw some understandable political excesses, the expectation of most Ghanaians is that both the Parliament and Executive will settle down pronto and ignite the businesses of state.
Collective benefit
As far as the law and the people of Ghana are concerned, the clatter before and during the campaign, into the demonstrations, should be left to the dustbins of history so that issues that the Executive tables are conscientiously and professional worked on for critical programmes to roll out for the collective benefit of the people.
In that regard, it is no longer, in the opinion of the Daily Statesman, the issue of who won and who lost and by what margins. It is bread and butter issues that affect our people and the succeeding generations that must now take centre place.
Convention and practice
Already, between the incumbent government and the leading opposition NDC, the convention and tradition has been one of consensus since the 1997 Parliament through 2001, 2009 and 2013 to 2017.
Technically, therefore, a mere change in leadership at the level of the Legislature must not merely mean that the tradition, convention and practices, as dictated by the Constitution, should be relegated to people’s whims and caprices to threaten to colour that noble work environment in the House.
Thank God, our legislators know that their responsibility is first to Ghana and the House, before any other consideration.
So in spite of all the pervading noise, which may be only exciting for the immediate post-election environment, the national duty to sustain our record as one of the fastest growing economies in the world and COVID-19 and best post-COVID-19 performing nation should be imperative.
Shared benefits, mutual interests
That responsibility on the part of the two leading political parties is necessary because Parliament, which partnered the Executive to attain those feats, did not float political colours in supporting government to succeed in the rolling out of the several initiatives in job creation, education and heath as well as agriculture and industrialisation, among others.
Appeal
That is why the Daily Statesman believes that, despite the politics surrounding the last elections and victory parties, we must all as citizens, particularly our MPs, dust up and put shoulders to the wheel in pursuit of our collective national agenda for development for our citizens.
That duty is critical in the light of the threat posed by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which frustrated economic growth globally and set nations, including the giant economies of Europe and the Asian Tigers, back in terms of progress and economic growth.
Realities
The realities confronting us now is that funding of the Free SHS programme, for example, sustaining agriculture and expanding the National Health Insurance Scheme will be looked at, perhaps, more inclusively, without envy and political convenience and colour – with Ghana and Ghanaians, not the NDC or NPP, benefiting.
Additionally, we may continue monitoring the banks to perform better under the existing Bank of Ghana financial regulations, without any political party taking the blame for mishaps that have been purely blameable on greedy customers and bank directors than government, which only came in to correct the situation and align operations for the mutual benefit of customers and players in the delicate, but strategic industry.
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