Three months into the year, members of Ghana’s Legislature appear to be engaged in theatrics instead of substance that impact the wellbeing of their constituents and the nation as a whole.
From fights that drew blood, to disagreements over their own processes, the House of ‘Honourables’ has created scenes that attract ridicule, instead of due honour and dignity befitting the people we queued to elect to represent our collective interest.
What we have, however, received in return is more and more drama, as fights rage up north, leaving women and children, farmers and the aged as well as school kids out of the markets and classrooms. And MPs can afford to ignore such distressing situations and squalor in their backyards, and yet hope that they are returned to Parliament in 2024. Sad! But that is the stark reality.
Comportment
Since the inception of this Fourth Republican Parliament, we have witnessed incidents that have compelled our eminent chiefs and religious bodies to attempt interventions that reflect our traditions as Africans. Unfortunately, the response from the typical politicians have been ‘No’.
Basic among such interventions, which also included one from the Council of State, is for the leadership to engineer a consensus. Our all-knowing leadership has unfortunately not obliged. If there were other pieces of interventions, we also found one in the Finance Minister being impressed upon to consult the citizenry through Town Hall meetings. That, undeniably, has been done.
Significantly, the angle to all of the drama, which leaves the ordinary people more desolate, is the indication from the same political segment of our population that they can become lawless, though they have shown to be adept in reading the Riot Act to journalists who commit similar offences, including mischievous slants or mis-reportage of proceedings in the House.
Back to consensus
While we may forgive some of our MPs for lack of experience, among other weaknesses, we believe the time has come for them to stop the needless theatrics, and take into consideration the difficult times we find ourselves in. They must know that they don’t have a choice than going back to consensus, as advocated by our eminent chiefs, Council of State, religious community and senior citizens as the way forward out of the impasse.
In the last few days, we have seen a couple of constituencies in the north beset with what is an all-too-familiar situation in those parts of the country. And that is a lingering issue that negatively affects development in our part of the world – all because we have not learnt to listen or talk.
Argument as a force
It is imperative at this point in our history for our MPs to understand that, as leaders, they must be interested in using argument as a force, rather than force as an argument, as we unfortunately tend to find in some of our constituencies where poverty and drudgery find roots, owing to lack of access to quality life.
In our opinion, it is therefore imperative for Parliament to understand that its mandate is not to fight the Executive, but offer, through the legislative processes, support that stirs development in the various constituencies our MPs represent.
Drudgery or lack of development in socio-economically under-served and under-developed constituencies is a major reason why MPs are in Parliament, not obstruction of the processes and the next elections.
While some minimal mischief may be allowable in politics in our part of the world, the theatrics in Parliament are turning ridiculous and making our MPs look funny in the eyes of the global community.
That is why some consensus is required in speedily returning the nation and, particularly the Legislature, to ‘proper sanity’.
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