Frankly Speaking: Are MPs belittling our intelligence?
On March 10, 2014, Mr Alban S. K. Bagbin, the Member of Parliament for Nadowli/Kaleo, was reported to have said at a workshop in Koforidua that members of parliament (MPs) take bribes to articulate the views of some individuals and organisations on the floor of Parliament.
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In fact, the audio of Mr Bagbin’s reported speech is still on the Internet and I just listened to it again as I wrote this column (Thursday, July 16), and I can say without any doubt that, that was exactly what he said.
Some MPs were angry at their colleague, forcing him initially to blame the media (as usual with politicians) for ‘mis-reporting’ or ‘reporting him out of context’. The Minority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, challenged Mr Bagbin to provide evidence of his allegation.
Eventually, Mr Bagbin accepted that the media didn’t ‘mis-report’ or ‘report him out of context’. On one Accra radio station, he confirmed his allegation against his colleagues: “It is an open secret,” he said, and challenged his colleagues to stop behaving like “ostriches” and admit the offence.
The issue went before a special committee of Parliament. Eric Kawkye Darfor, a member of the committee, told one journalist that even though the comments by Mr Bagbin remained an allegation, it had the potential of denting the image of Parliament.
Strangely, however, in October 2014, Parliament cleared Mr Bagbin of any wrongdoing, yet the committee, whose sitting was not telecast, has never told Ghanaians what proof Mr Bagbin gave to confirm that some MPs took bribes to champion the interests of organisations and individuals on the floor of Parliament.
Blakk Rasta
In June this year, Mr Aboubakar Ahmed, popularly called Blakk Rasta, a reggae musician and radio host on Accra-based Hitz FM, alleged that 80 per cent of MPs smoke marijuana. He admitted to having said that “about 80 per cent of MPs or over, might have used marijuana before and are still using it”. This, in no doubt, was a reckless statement since he had no evidence to support it.
On June 25, 2015, Blakk Rasta was dragged before the Privileges Committee of Parliament with live television coverage. Ken Kuranchie, the Editor of the Daily Searchlight newspaper, which published the allegations made by the musician, was also made to appear before the committee.
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Prof. Alex Dodoo
Following immediately was another invitation of Parliament to Prof Alex Dodoo, the WHO scientist and lecturer at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Ghana, who appeared before the Privileges Committee last Tuesday, July 14, for calling on MPs to apologise to Ghanaians for their “uniformed and ignorant assertions” about the recent trial of Ebola vaccines in Ghana.
Prof. Dodoo had said on a radio programme that it was embarrassing that MPs had asked elementary questions on the floor of the House on whether the trial had been done on mice and chimpanzees when the MPs should have known that the same Parliament had mandated the Food and Drugs Authority to undertake such trials. Even the host of the radio programme was also invited.
Our MPs had argued that their actions of inviting people to the house were based on Parliament’s Standing Order 32, which says any acts which affront directly or indirectly the name of Parliament is in contempt of the criminal code and subject to punishment.
During the ‘trial’ of Prof Dodoo, the MPs also cited Article 115 of the Constitution, which states that: “There shall be freedom of speech, debate and proceedings in Parliament and that freedom shall not be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament.”
How have the MPs educated the electorate who sent them to Parliament on the rules in that house to enable the people to know the Parliamentary Orders? Also, does Order 32 only apply to non-MPs, otherwise how can Bagbin’s allegation of bribery, a very serious and criminal offence, not receive the same treatment as the one given to Blakk Rasta’s allegation that some MPs smoke marijuana?
Harsh treatment
Article 17 (1) says: “All persons shall be equal before the law”, while (2) stipulates that: “A person shall not be discriminated against on grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creed, social or economic status.” Is Parliament not breaching this article by treating an allegation of corruption by an MP with kid’s gloves and treating an allegation of marijuana smoking by an ordinary citizen so harshly?
A very disturbing aspect of the conduct of our Parliament in recent times is the house’s interpretation of Article 115 of the Constitution. The 1992 Constitution has provisions on free speech. Article 21 (1) says: “All persons shall have the right to (a) freedom of speech and expression, which shall include freedom of the press and other media; and (b) freedom of thought, conscience and belief, which shall include academic freedom.”
Article 120 stipulates that: “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, a person shall not be under any civil or criminal liability in respect of the publication of (a) the text or a summary of any report, papers, minutes, votes and proceedings of Parliament; or (b) a contemporaneous report of the proceedings of Parliament; unless it is shown that the publication was effected maliciously or otherwise without good faith.”
Prof. Dodoo was well within this provision.
It seems our MPs are allocating to themselves how to interpret the constitution, otherwise one is at a loss as to why they treated Bagbin differently from Aboubakar Ahmed, and Prof. Alex Dodoo. Article 115 only protects MPs from prosecution or being sued for what they say in parliament, but it does not make them immune to criticism. How many scientists are on Parliament’s committee on health, and which institutions did MPs consult before their discussion of the Ebola vaccine trial?
The worrying trend is that MPs are placing themselves above the constitution and ring-fencing themselves from criticism even though they are accountable to us, those who elected them into Parliament. We have every right to criticise the President and his ministers, the Chief Justice and judges because none of them is above the law. The Speaker and MPs are no different from members of the Executive and Judiciary.
Privileges
Being an MP goes with many privileges, including a loan for a vehicle, which many workers in Ghana are not entitled to upon their entry into any new job, not to talk about mouth-watering end-of-service benefits after only a four-year work period, plus free housing.
Our Parliament and parliamentarians should not belittle the intelligence of the electorate. They criticise even the President, but they want to keep all of us silent.
Parliament must take note that respect is earned and that it cannot continue to suppress free expression and press freedom in Ghana. The same constitution which protects Parliament also gives us the right to criticise it.
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The author is a Political Scientist and Media and Communication Expert. fasado@hotmail.com