Haruna Iddrisu’s motion a waste of everyone’s time - Ras Mubarak writes

A decision on a motion in Parliament by the former Minority Leader to remove some four Members of Parliament (MPs) who are contesting as independent candidates in the December 2024 Parliamentary election was deferred by the Speaker of Parliament. 

While we await the decision of the Speaker, I must say the motion was a bizarre and shocking frolic that completely ignores the most pressing issues in the country. 

Members of Parliament who spoke in support of the motion completely ignored one of the issues high up on the minds of Ghanaians yearning for a credible election in December - how to reign in the intransigent Electoral Commissioner and getting her to produce nothing but a free and fair election on December 7.  

That should be the priority of every elected Member, especially those in opposition.  What is the electoral fortune of the motion? 

With almost seven weeks to the December election, how does removing four rogue MPs resolve the issue of the Electoral Commissioner’s adamant posturing?

We have had almost 1,500 Ghanaians die in road accidents In the first quarter of 2024 alone according to public records.  The country had recorded nearly 10,000 injuries from road accidents within the first six months of this year. 

It is a major disaster that requires serious and urgent action by all stakeholders, including Parliament, which ought to enact the necessary legislation to stem the tide, and appropriate the necessary funds to deal with the crisis. 

There’s also the wanton destruction of our water bodies, forest reserves and a plastic pollution crisis, plus President Akufo Addo’s government running the economy aground. 

And the first act by the Minority is not a motion to impeach the President for his colossal failure to tackle the illegal mining crisis, nor a bill to prosecute parents whose minor children commit high crimes. 

Practicality and common sense dictates that the NDC and its MPs must be focused on reigning in the Electoral Commissioner, whose posturing and impunity is very worrying. 

At the time of writing this article, we are 52 days away from the December 7 election.  There would be no by-election even if the four rogue MPs are removed. 

Upon the resumption of Parliament, I expected an urgent question to the Minister for Defence on whether our peacekeeping troops in Lebanon were harmed in anyway by the criminal Israeli regime which attacked the position of UN Peacekeepers in Lebanon. 

I expect private members bill for an amendment to the Coroner’s Act, which requires for every deceased person, including deceased Muslims, to undergo autopsy. This is an issue I unsuccessfully raised when I was MP in the 7th Parliament, and one which is of grave concern to Muslims up and down the country, including majority of the former Minority Leader’s constituents who are Muslims. 

All of these issues are ignored for a more hopeless frolic that has zero impact on our fortunes in the upcoming elections nor the issues high up on the minds of suffering Ghanaians. 

The former Minority Leader said he was defending the constitution, which in truth is what every Ghanaian, especially those in elected office should do. 

But at a time defending the constitution would have been effective and productive, he and just about everyone who spoke In support of the motion abandoned their constitutional obligations, and betrayed the sacred and hallowed oath of office. 

Under the watch of the former Minority Leader, the NDC had a chance to cause of the removal of some MPs who’d violated the constitution, and cause a by-election. This was in 2022 when the following MPs - Hon. Sarah Adwoa Safo, Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, Hon. Henry Quartey and Hon. Kojo Kum, absented themselves from Parliament without approval of the Speaker. 

Never once during this egregious violation of the constitution did we hear the mover of today’s motion talk about defending the constitution. It took my petition to Parliament, which the Minority even attempted to shoot down, for the matter to be heard and brought before the Privileges Committee. 

At a time when it mattered most, the former Minority Leader abandoned his duty to defend and uphold the constitution. And alas, the issue has been conveniently swept under the rug. 

We in the NDC are hungry for political power.  We are going into a very difficult election, where the referee (EC) is clearly biased against us. The sooner we kept our eyes on the most important things, the better for us. 

We can’t afford to take our eyes off the ball. Parliament is clothed with all the powers to put the Electoral Commissioner in check. And I hope we make that a priority than this injury time gymnastics that are a waste of everyone’s time. 

The life of this parliament is less than three months from coming to an end. There’s little or no political capital from removing the MPs going Independent. 

The author is Ras Mubarak, Former Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority and a Former Member of Parliament for Kumbungu  
Accra 
October 15, 2024.