Saturday, July 12, 2014
Folks, the national discourse on
our problems of under-development continues. Former President John Agyekum
Kufuor has struck a rhythm on serious political dynamics that should not be
left uncommented on because it entails a lot. And I see a lot wrong with that
rhythm. First, let’s get to know what Kufuor’s views are.
1.
RECONSTITUTION
OF COUNCIL OF STATE
He
has called for the reconstitution of the Council of State into an Upper House
of Parliament to serve as an effective check on both the Executive and Lower
House. (As currently constituted, the Council of State is an advisory
body to the Executive).
Kufuor
said the Council of State has proved to be ineffective; therefore, the nation
needs a non-partisan discerning body to serve as a check in decision making.
According to him, this would ensure that bills formulated by the Executive are
subjected to scrutiny by the Upper House before being passed into law. Reconstituting
the Council of State into an Upper House, with regional and institutional
representations, would ensure that the Executive and Majority in Parliament “do
not have their way.”
2.
OFFICE
OF VICE PRESIDENT TO BE ABOLISHED?
Speaking
on other ways of enhancing good governance, the former President called for the
abolition of the Office of the Vice President and its replacement with Office
of Prime Minister who would actively represent the Executive in Parliament.
He stated that adopting the Westminster system would be more beneficial to the
country than the present system where the Office of Vice President is almost
redundant because of the active participation of the President in governance.
Former
President Kufuor made the suggestion during a consultative meeting with the
Advisory Committee on the constitution review process on the Winner-Takes-All
(WTO) of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) at his residence in Accra,
yesterday. The meeting was part of a series of nationwide consultation
for input into the constitutional amendment process, which is aimed at
addressing the challenges of the WTA political system in the country.
MY
COMMENTS
I
sympathize with Kufuor but will at the same time ridicule his suggestions. First,
the Council of State is irrelevant to our quest for solutions to our national
problems, having demonstrated that it is nothing but a mere appendage to the
system for nothing but a “job-for-the-boys/girls” purpose. Its so-called
advisory role as stipulated by the
constitution is already being played by all those surrounding the President and
advising him on day-to-day basis.
I
have already written a lot to suggest that this Council of State is redundant
and a drain on our resources, which means that it must be abolished outright.
That is why Kufuor’s attempt to whitewash it for it to be turned into a Second
Chamber of Parliament raises serious fears, suspicions, and doubts.
A
Second Chamber of Parliament is not needed. In the first place, the main
Chamber (made up of 275 MPs representing all parts of the country) is so
incompetent as to annoy Ghanaians at its mere mention. Its members are more
focused on seeking self-interests than doing what others of their ilk in other
democracies do. Why aren’t they deeply interested in performing efficiently to
check and balance governance s is expected?
Our
Parliament has been on the lips of Ghanaians all these years for the wrong
reason that it is part of the problems to be solved. Adding a Second Chamber to
this Parliament will be an overkill. That is why I consider as ridiculous Kufuor’s
claim that turning the Council of State into a Second Chamber “would ensure
that bills formulated by the Executive are subjected to scrutiny by the Upper
House before being passed into law”.
What
guarantee is there that this so-called Second Chamber will be more efficient
than all the others (the MPs and the Executive)? What will be the relationship
between that Upper House and the lower one embodying the 275 elected
representatives of the citizens?
We
note that a third of the membership of the Council of State is appointed by the
President, meaning that he will definitely have his surrogates there to do his
bidding. More importantly, I wonder what legitimacy that Upper House will have
to embolden it into overriding the will of the people (as exercised by their
elected representatives in Parliament).
Kufuor’s
rationale is that “reconstituting the Council of State into an Upper House,
with regional and institutional representations, would ensure that the
Executive and Majority in Parliament “do not have their way.” It is overly
simplistic.
Now,
to Kufuor’s suggestion on the abolition of the Office of the Vice President and
its replacement it with Office of Prime Minister who would actively represent
the Executive in Parliament. What must Kufuor be thinking of?
First,
our system of governance is fashioned on the United States version of the
Executive Presidential system, making the President the fount of authority and
investing in him all powers and instruments to exercise maximum authority in
governing the country. He is to be supported by the Vice President whose
purview is clearly defined as such. This system has no room for a Prime
Minister, which is catered for by another system (the British Parliamentary or
Westminster system of governance. In this system, the primus interparis (“first-among-equals”)
is the Prime Minister, who doesn’t wield absolute power. That absolute power
resides in the titular head of state, the British Queen/Monarchy). These are
two different systems. No crossing over or blending of designations or
functions!!
Kufuor’s
claim that as currently constituted, the Office of Vice President is redundant
cannot be justified. Probably, he must be speaking from experience when he
hogged space and every opportunity to do everything (including the hundreds of
foreign travels) while consigning his former Vice President, Aliu Mahama, to
the doldrums and shadows. Aliu Mahama was virtually invisible and simply
emerged as a glorified messenger to do Kufuor’s bidding if he couldn’t be
present personally.
It
was not so under Jerry Rawlings when the late Atta Mills was active, preceded
by Kow Nkensen Arkaah, who was also given enough elbow room to operate, even
when he began selling out the NDC government to its political opponents and got
the worst experience in the hands of Rawlings (December 28, 1995, when Rawlings
pounced on him at a Cabinet meeting).
The
working relationship between former President Mills and his Vice (John D.
Mahama) before Fate turned everything around was cordial and no one had any
cause to doubt the integrity of the Office of the Vice President. There is ample evidence to suggest that the current
Vice President, Kwesi B. Amissah-Arthur is not overshadowed and is performing
his duties as constitutionally mandated. We feel his presence too. So,
where is Kufuor coming from?
I
don’t think that a mere designation will solve the problem. What powers will a
Prime Minister under an Executive President exercise that will be denied a Vice
President? How will the Office of the Prime Minister be constituted to make it
more functional and constitutionally relevant to Ghana’s democracy that should
warrant any suggestion of the sort made by Kufuor?
I
see the problems with our mechanisms for governance as going beyond what might
have prompted Kufuor into going this way. The Ghanaian problem is more
attitudinal than constitutional. Not until our leaders change their own mindset
to use power productively and to galvanize the citizens into supporting their
initiatives, the problems cannot be solved.
A
change in attitude will lead to the desire to strengthen state institutions for
them to perform their legitimate functions and rid Ghana of “filth” (perceived
as the main problems drawing us back. Name bribery and corruption, laziness,
nepotism, ethnocentrism, theft of public property, and other unpatriotic acts,
and you will be right). That is the only way to change the situation.
Constitutional
changes are good, but they can’t accomplish anything if the people tasked with
responsibilities don’t do what is expected; or if they adroitly turn such
constitutional provisions into loopholes to be exploited. Ghana deserves more
than what its leaders have given it so far. And that has nothing to do with the
institutions of state as designated or constituted. It’s all about attitude and
mindset!!
I
see something contradictory in Kufuor’s advocacy, which reduces everything to a
mere political gimmick on his part. Ironically, the very changes that he is
asking for cannot be made without a constitutional amendment under the current
set-up. Yet, Kufuor says that this same constitutional amendment should not be
carried out.
While
asking for changes to be made in the designation and constitution of the
Council of State and Office of the Vice President, he is cautioning “against
rushing the constitutional amendment process through Parliament and a
referendum”. How can he reconcile these two contradictory positions?
To
date, a Constitutional Review Commission has put forward some areas of our 1992
Constitution for review and an Implementation Committee is busily putting
things together toward getting the Electoral Commission to conduct a
referendum. I have seen a lot wrong with this manouevre and written to register
my concerns about the cherry-picking being done and because there is a lot to
worry about in this approach toward amending the constitution.
As
for his advice that “Ghanaians should be made to own the process and understand
the intended changes”, I will quickly dismiss it as a mere “rally ground talk”
(thanks to Justice Atuguba. He re-echoes Jerry Rawlings and his populist
revolutionary fervour (People’s Defence Committees, Workers’ Defence Committees
or Committees for the Defence of the Revolution). Is that Kufuor’s version of “People’s
Power”? I wonder.
Putting
everything together, we can say that there is much concern among Ghanaians
about how their democracy isn’t being used to solve problems so they can live
decent lives. And under the circumstance, anything that can be done to fine-tune
this democracy will be admired; but not just anything (as Kufuor seems to be
putting on the table). The systemic problems cannot be solved with this kind of
tinkering.
I shall return…
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E-mail:
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