As a result of the recent activities of the minority caucus, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has stated that Ghana’s eighth parliament has become the worst in the history of the country.
The Minority made an announcement at the beginning of the week that they would be taking their protest over the prosecution of Gyakye Quayson to a higher level.
The new tactic is to constantly bring up issues related to the quorum, which will essentially cause the House to come to a standstill each time.
The current parliament is the worst in Ghana’s history
According to the First Deputy Speaker, who was under the impression that a Parliament with equal numbers of members would be superior, in reality, it was the most ineffective of all the parliaments.
On the 20th of July, he gave an interview to JoyNews, during which he stated, “We have decided to do politics instead of business.” I have said it before, and I will say it again: this parliament, the eighth parliament, has passed the fewest pieces of legislation. This equal number in parliament has brought out the worst in MPs.
On Thursday, as the House was debating various laws, including the Ghana UNESCO bill, it became clear that the House did not have enough members present to proceed with its business. Because of this, we had to call a quick adjournment.
As a result of this, Mr. Osei-Wusu stated that the current parliament has not been as productive as was the case in the parliaments that came before it.
According to him, despite having been in parliament for more than a decade, there has never been a moment when the absence of other colleagues in the house has impeded the business of the day.
He emphasized the fact that the existing legislature made it impossible for the leadership to exercise authority over the activities of the house.
“The young people are in charge; they have a different perspective on things than the rest of us, which is why it is even beneficial for them when their leaders agree that they should do it.
If you look at the current parliament, you will see that it is seldom the leaders who are the ones who come to bring up controversial issues; rather, it is the folks sitting in the back benches. “What it means is that at this time in the parliament of Ghana, the back bench is in control,” he stated. “What this means is that at this time, leaders do not have control.”
In addition, the Minister of Trade and Industry, KT Hammond, has raised alarm over the present trend, stating that if this continues, it will be impossible for parliament to get any work done.
He characterised the behavior of the minority as devious and an obvious attempt to disrupt the operations of the government.
Mr. Hammond emphasized that as a result of the action taken by the minority, it has become difficult to hold committee meetings, which has had a significant impact on the work that gets done in parliament.
Kwame Governs Agbodza, who serves as the Chief Whip of the minority caucus, has stated that the minority caucus is doing everything in its power to ensure that the business of the house is not disrupted.
He continued by saying that members on his side of the chamber were not to blame for the delay in the conduct of parliamentary business. He emphasized that the agenda of the house would have continued if all members of the minority had been present at the time of the meeting.
Also, the Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, stated that it is unjust for the majority to call the activities of the minority a frustration to the business of the house. He said this because the majority is in the minority.
According to him, the standing orders and the constitution govern how the house conducts business. Because of this, portraying the constitution and the standing rules as a burden to the activity of the legislature is incorrect.
He went on to say that, on the other hand, the Chief Whip of the Majority was unable to bring all of the members of the majority into the chamber in order for the proceedings of the day to continue.