Prof Ransford Gyampo is a Political Scientist
Political Scientist, Professor Ransford Gyampo has taken on the majority group of Parliament New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MPs) and one independent MP – for using force, absurd interpretation of the rules of Parliament, ‘buga buga and takashie’ to ensure that Government business goes on, insisting that approval of the budget superintended by the NPP MP for Bekwai as Speaker, who notwithstanding counted himself as part of MPs present, is a legal absurdity.
According to the outspoken academic, Deputy Speaker Joe Osei-Owusu’s conduct, which ensured that the 2022 Budget was approved after its initial rejection by Minority MPs, does not sit well with authorities on parliamentary practice and therefore legally absurd.
“… A reading of article 104 with its SPIRIT and perusal of the works of Erskine May, the man referred to as the Bible of Parliamentary Procedures renders what Joe Wise did a legal absurdity. You cannot be an impartial speaker, come down to be counted as a partial member to help constitute a majority and go up again to serve as speaker and insist that you never voted. The issue isn’t about voting. The issue is about a Speaker being counted as partisan member.
It is understandable that government business has to go on but we must not achieve this through force, absurd interpretation of the rules, “takashie” and “buga buga”,” he wrote.
He pointed that deliberation could have government business could still have been championed through consensus building such as a reduction of the E-Levy.
“We still could have pushed the government agenda through consensus by reducing this 1.75 percent e-levy to about 1 percent to be gradually increased if need be,” he suggested.
He warned that the approval of the policy statement as witnessed yesterday by the majority group is just the first stage of the approval process and the process could stall interminably if the Majority Group fails to cooperate with the minority in Parliament on the budget.
“What has been done is merely the “approval” of the Policy Statement of the Budget. The Budget itself would kick in when the Appropriation Act is passed to authorize spending. There would be various stages including Estimates, Committee Reports to Plenary, Bills to be passed into Acts to support the new levies and taxes and the passage of the Appropriation Act. All these stages are going to be debated and given the possibility of what the NDC did last Friday repeating itself throughout the remaining stages of the Budget process, the smartest thing should have been consensus building at the beginning, as this would secure the remaining processes,” he explained.
Read the full statement below:
1. A reading of article 104 with its SPIRIT and perusal of the works of Erskine May, the man referred to as the Bible of Parliamentary Procedures renders what Joe Wise did a legal absurdity. You cannot be an impartial speaker, come down to be counted as a partial member to help constitute a majority and go up again to serve as speaker and insist that you never voted. The issue isn’t about voting. The issue is about a Speaker being counted as partisan member.
2. It is understandable that government business has to go on but we must not achieve this through force, absurd interpretation of the rules, “takashie” and “buga buga”. We still could have pushed the government agenda through consensus by reducing this 1.75 percent e-levy to about 1 percent to be gradually increased if need be.
3. What has been done is merely the “approval” of the Policy Statement of the Budget. The Budget itself would kick in when the Appropriation Act is passed to authorize spending. There would be various stages including Estimates, Committee Reports to Plenary, Bills to be passed into Acts to support the new levies and taxes and the passage of the Appropriation Act. All these stages are going to be debated and given the possibility of what the NDC did last Friday repeating itself throughout the remaining stages of the Budget process, the smartest thing should have been consensus building at the beginning, as this would secure the remaining processes.
4. If the beginning was characterized by such intransigence and lack of consensus, then the remaining processes are likely to be more rancorous. In Malawi, Parliamentary Business was once stalled for four years without anything being done because the two sides failed to dialogue and use consensus building. If the NDC minority decides to carry out its threat of non-cooperation in the subsequent processes, the budget would still not see the light of day and all of us will suffer.
5. The NPP in parliament must know that they don’t have that power and muscle all ruling parties have had since 1992. Even if they do, power must be exercised with a certain tolerance and magnanimity, not with “takashie” and “buga-buga”. The NDC must also know that they would not be endearing themselves to Ghanaians if through their actions of full scale non-cooperation, government, governance and the ordinary people suffer.
Let there be cool heads. We have come very far as a nation.
Yaw Gyampo
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