Asantehene’s call to Executive, Legislature apt

The national interest requires us to work as one people with a common destiny, no matter our political, religious or ethnic cleavages. It is this spirit of working together in unity that should inspire all facets of national life if we are to speed up our national development efforts.

For this reason, we consider and appreciate the recent call by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, for the Executive and the Legislature to work together, and not put at risk the peace of the country.

At the 2020 Millennium Excellence Awards, during which the Millennium Excellence Foundation conferred on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo the Gold Coast Prize for National Cohesion and Stability, Otumfuo Osei Tutu stressed the need for the Executive and the Legislature to cultivate the spirit of compromise, which has been the crucial element missing in our political discourse.

Undoubtedly, for national development and progress, we cannot sacrifice the peace we have enjoyed for decades for political expediency.

Indeed, since the inauguration of the Eighth Parliament on January 7, 2021, many have wondered how the governance of the country will be and look like.

That is because while President Akufo-Addo is from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, is from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) .

To compound matters, both the NPP and the NDC have 137 seats each, with an independent Member of Parliament (MP) who has opted to go with the NPP.

Consequently, many people expect tough and rough times in Parliament when it comes to governance issues during this Eighth Parliament.

Indeed, during the vetting of the President’s ministerial nominees, there was a lot of apprehension after threats from the NDC caucus in Parliament to kick against some of the nominees. But, in the end of it all, the nominees were approved and they have since been working for the development of the country.

The Daily Graphic sees the call by the Asantehene as very timely, considering how polarised our society has become due to partisanship interests. Many on either side of the political divide in Parliament and their supporters would want their members to prove difficult to MPs on the other side.

As a country, we have a long way to go in respect of development and we cannot afford such partisanship to draw us back.

We at the Daily Graphic believe that President Akufo-Addo and Mr Bagbin can and should provide Ghanaians new leadership, where the Legislature holds the Executive to account without being obstructive to the latter’s mandate of executing its development agenda.

Such a positive approach will go a long way to help Ghana do away with the mistakes of the past and improve not only the governance of the country but also the livelihoods of the people.

This will make Ghanaians appreciate the importance of our democratic dispensation and vouch for it anytime, anywhere.

This also means that we must appreciate the constitutional and legal procedures as we air our grievances and resolve disputes with stakeholders.

The tendency to hold the government, employers and even employees to ransom must end for due process to prevail, which is a major part of our democratic governance systems.

Fortunately, President Akufo-Addo, at the same event, acknowledged the support his government had received from the Legislature and cited the approval of his ministerial nominees and the budget for this year, two key legislative interventions needed for the formation of a government.

This is definitely a positive sign and we pray that the situation would continue that way, all in the collective interest of the country and the good of the people.