Thank
you very much, senior citizen.
Yes, Hon Majority Leader?
Majority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei-
Mensah-Bonsu): Mr Speaker, I was not
in the House when the Statement was
made but I entered at the tail end to
listen to the sermon from my Deputy,
Hon Afenyo-Markin. I caught the drift,
but I asked him whether he came with a
formal Statement, and he indicated to
me what he has written. I could not
make head or tail of what he meant by
that, however, as I said, I caught the
drift. Mr Speaker, I think it is about the
effectiveness and efficiency of
Members of Parliament, and what our
responsibility should be and our
contribution to nation building.
Mr Speaker, the functions of
Parliament as an institution, and indeed,
as Members of Parliament are set out for
us. We represent constituents; we play
representational role. It expresses itself
in the Questions that we ask in
Parliament; in Statements such as the
one that has been made by my Hon
Colleague, and we ferry the concerns of
our constituents to the Chamber,
including perhaps, in the form of
petitions and so on. That is the
representational function of Parliament.
We deliberate on matters that come
before us, so, we have a deliberative
function. By the deliberation over issues
that we conduct in this House, we
transmit information. So, Parliament
and Members of Parliament have
information transmission function. It is
the reason that if we should not corrupt
the conscience of our country and our
citizens, our contribution should be
based on research and not just talking
from the top of our heads. Many times,
people get up in this Chamber and they
are just talking to our opinions, and not
grounded on any research.
Today, our Parliament is evolving
strongly and now, we are making space
for the recruitment of research officers
to influence the debates in the House.
We have the power of purse function
which we exercise by interrogating loan
agreements, and in particular, the
budget that comes before us.
Mr Speaker, when resources have
been allocated to State agencies,
including Parliament itself, we must see
the application of the resources. That is
the oversight function of the Members
of Parliament. But arguably, the greatest
function is legislation; law-making. We
approve and ratify agreements including
loans and so on. So, these are the
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functions of Parliament and of
Parliamentarians. How many of us in
this House would say that they fulfil all
these charges? I said that arguably, the
greatest function of Parliament and
Parliamentarians is law-making;
legislation. That is why we constitute
the legislative arm of Government.
When we come to making laws in this
House, apart from the relevant
committees, the leadership of which we
may see in the House, we may
sometimes, have not more than five or
six people fashioning and crafting Bills
for the entire country. We do not do
justice to our call as Members of
Parliament.
Mr Speaker, so oftentimes, I say to us
that people stay for long periods in this
House; they serve for long periods, but
unfortunately, not too many of us allow
Parliament to pass through us; we pass
through Parliament. So, we leave and
when about two, three or four terms we
should be speaking as authority on
matters that we have discussed, we see
the shallowness and hollowness of some
Members of Parliament, including some
former Members of Parliament. So, we
should place emphasis on the capacity
building of Members of Parliament to
make them relevant.
Mr Speaker, the central figure that
Hon Colleague mentioned, Hon (Dr)
Mark Assibey-Yeboah, when he first
came, people who know him - He had to
serve under Dr Anthony Akoto Osei as
Deputy Ranking Member of the Finance
Committee. He did not register on the
radar. It was Hon Dr Akoto Osei who
was always dominate. Dr Assibey-
Yeboah was virtually unknown, but he
spent the time learning and
understudying the leadership of the
Finance Committee. Of course, given
his own training and experience that he
gather subsequently, he was able to
illuminate the House when he became
the Chairman of the Finance
Committee. We have seen in this House
people who have served us
Chairpersons of committees for two
terms and yet, they get lost out when
issues which relate to their sector come
to be debated in this House; Dr Assibey-
Yeboah was different. It is because he
availed himself to learn.
Mr Speaker, unfortunately - [Interruption] - Bring back the Chamber - [Laughter] - Mr Speaker, that is on a lighter note. I think we
should place emphasis on capacity
building in this House. Given the
vicissitudes of these days, I think it is
important that at least, twice a year, we
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submit ourselves to capacity building.
That would include even continuing
Members. Let us face it, there are some
first time Members of Parliament who
are able to rise up faster than people who
have been in the system for maybe, two
or three terms. So, everyone needs
capacity building. When we have these
opportunities, we should avail
ourselves. Some of them who have
served for two or three terms, when we
engage in capacity building workshops,
they put in an appearance and leave.
They are not serious with the workshops
that we organise, and it reflects in the
quality of their own debates in this
House.
Mr Speaker, my Hon Colleague said
that I would not have the courage to
make anybody the Chairman of the
winnowing committee. I am surprised
that he made such a statement; he is not
here. But anybody who knows me and
what I have done in the winnowing
committee will know that the previous
one was populated more by Members on
the other Side. On my own Side, we had
Hon Banda and Hon Anyimadu-Antwi,
who were regulars. The regulars on the
other Side were Hon Yieleh Chireh and
Hon Fuseini Inusah, and it was because
of the dexterity that they showed that
Hon Fuseini Inusah, for instance, has
been drafted to the Ministry of
Parliamentary Affairs as a consultant -
[Interruption] It is not Hon Shaibu
Mahama. You do not know what you
are talking about. Please, do not bear
Mr Speaker, the Hon Shaibu, the Hon
Member for Daboya was also a very
diligent member of the winnowing
committee. Equally so was the Hon
Bernard Ahiafor, the latter day saint, the
Hon Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor,
and on very few occasions, the Hon
Suhuyini. I realised that most of them
were not very regular because of want
of time, but whenever they came, they
wanted to participate fully. So, the
statement that the Hon Cletus Avoka
made is factually incorrect. To say that
we were not allowing the Minority to be
there is most untrue.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Deputy
Minority Leader is drawing my
attention to the fact that he was not here
during that time, so I would forgive him
his trespasses, but he is not to bear false
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witness in such instances. He is my
friend but he is only supposed to bear
testimony to what he knows and not
speak to what he does not know.
Mr Speaker, Parliament ordinarily is
like wine. The longer a person stays
here, the more useful he becomes to the
system. It is the reason I do not miss any
opportunity to restate the fact that the
various political parties, including in
particular the New Patriotic Party (NPP)
and the National Democratic Congress
(NDC), should do serious introspection
on their constitutions because this free
for all that we allow at the end of every
fourth year would not help to grow
Parliament. There is no Parliament
anywhere in the established
democracies where at the end of every
four years they open the sluice gates for
all comers. We would not be able to
grow Parliament and our parties if we
allow that situation. It is the reason our
Parliament is not growing.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Cletus Avoka
mentioned some quality materials that
we had in 1997 when we first came to
Parliament. At the time, he said that the
number of NPP Hon Members were 67,
but we were not even 67, the number
was 61. Hon Members of Parliament
from NPP were 61 in 1997, but we had
quality debaters. The Hon J. H. Mensah
led our attack, we had the current
President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-
Addo, we had Hon Baah Wiredu, Hon
Addo Kufour and on the other Side, we
had the Hon J. H. Owusu Acheampong
himself, who was a master of the rules.
At every turn when the Hon J. H.
Mensah wanted to have his way, the
Hon J. H. Owusu Acheampong used the
rules to shut him up, and the objection
was sustained by the Hon Speaker.
Mr Speaker, indeed, this was what
inspired me to apply myself to the rules.
This is because the Hon J. H. Mensah
was the most astute debater, but the Hon
J. H. Owusu Acheampong, being the
master of the rules, always applied the
rules to stop the Hon J. H. Mensah in his
tracks. So, I said to myself that I would
learn the rules, and when I started a year
into that, the then Hon Speaker, D. F.
Annan, travelling to New Zealand
invited me to join him, and I went with
the Hon Ama Benyiwa-Doe and the
Hon J. H. Owusu Acheampong. The
Hon J. H. Mensah was to have joined us,
but unfortunately he could not go
because there was something that he
needed to do. When we went, the Hon
Speaker invited me to his room and said
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that he had seen some quality in me so
if I continued that way, I would go
places. That was a huge encouragement
to me, and I told him I would not
disappoint him.
Mr Speaker, here we are as a country
with two dominant political parties, and
I think that is how it should be because
the Directive Principles of State Policy
imposes a national development agenda
on this country. I keep saying that in this
country all political parties are centrist
parties; there are no extreme parties.
Those of us in the NPP are only a little
bit to the right of the centre, and the
NDC, in spite of the noise is just a little
bit to the left of the centre. They are not
an extreme socialist party or communist
party, just like the NPP is not an extreme
capitalist party. The NPP are liberal
democrats and the NDC are also liberal
socialists. So, we are all centrist parties,
and the overall vision is imposed on us
by the Directive Principles of State
Policy.
What we lack today, which is
dividing us, is because as a country we
do not have a long term development
plan. If we had a long term development
plan around which the two parties
would be forced to weave our
manifestos, the difference amongst the
political parties would just be in the
implementation of policies. However,
unfortunately, we do not have a long
term national development plan and it is
also because of the construct of the
National Development Planning
Commission (NDPC) imposed by the
1992 Constitution.
Mr Speaker, if we have a NDPC that
is composed of Ministers of State,
regardless of the quality of the product,
as I said somewhere the other time, it
would be seen as a chamber pot, excuse
my language, which even when it is
coming directly from the factory,
nobody would want to eat from. So, we
had some materials bequeathed to us by
the Hon J. H. Mensah and Hon
Professor Gyan-Baffour. The NDC
inherited it, they did not want to have
anything to do with it, but what the NDC
succeeded in doing eventually under the
auspices of Dr Kwesi Botwe and Dr Nii
Moi Thompson, an extremely good
material - Why are we stuck? We are stuck because of where it is coming
from, and it is as simple as that. That is
why I keep saying that we must have a
holistic review of this 1992 Constitution
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to have perhaps, some experts constitute
the NDPC such that all political parties
would buy into that product, and it
would inure to our development. The
1992Constitution, after all, says to us
that any development that is initiated by
an administration, the next succeeding
administration, to the largest extent
possible, would have to follow that and
follow it through. Why do we not do
that? It is because our own development
plan is fashioned by our manifestos,
which are not real long term
development plans. That is where we
are, but we should understand this and
move on with our national development
plan.
Mr Speaker, on the issue about
consensus building, I think that we have
been doing our best. The Hon Cletus
Avoka, the Member of Parliament for
Zebilla, said that we are not doing much
and that anything that comes from a
particular Government, the Majority
party would always support it. I do not
consider that statement as a truthful or a
correct statement because we have Bills
that emanates from the Executive.
When it comes to amendments, it is
always at the instance of the Minority;
most of it at least, and the Majority party
members would also offer amendments.
So, who says that anything that comes
from the Executive is taken lost stock
and barrel by the ruling party members?
That is untrue! Admittedly though,
when we talk about amendments, most
of it would be sponsored by the
Minority party. It does not mean that the
Majority members do not agree.
Mr Speaker, we should be charitable
to ourselves. I agree with the
proposition from the Hon Minority
Chief Whip that we are not charitable to
ourselves. We go outside and tear each
other apart. I am happy he made an
admission that if we say one thing
against him, he would say five. Mr
Speaker, our elders say sɛ yɛka sɛ nipa mmienu ho ayɛ fi a, baako ho ayɛ fi kyɛn baako. To wit, if two people are dirty,
one is still dirtier than the other. Unless
we admit that and we all recline - yɛn nyinaa yaboro pɛpɛɛpɛ - we are equally drank, it would not help to resolve the
problem. That is the point.
If somebody slips and you doubly
slip and say yɛn nyinaa yaboro pɛpɛɛpɛ. Wei na ɔhyɛɛ aseɛ na me nso mekaa five atea no. It would not exhibit maturity
and patriotism. We must understand
that. It is most unfortunate. Some people
have made it a passion, on almost daily
basis to say on radio stations “this man
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is a liar”. When they are asked to prove, they do not have any proof, but blanket
statements are made about each other.
How do you want the other person to
take it? I have made it a point not to
react to insults that are thrown at me; I
speak to issues. We must critique issues,
not personalities. That is how to grow
our democracy. Hon Eric Opoku, is that
