Censor ministers who violate Acts of Parliament — Owusu-Adjapong
A former Majority Leader in Parliament has charged Parliament to censor any minister of State who violates Acts of Parliament.
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Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong, who was presenting a paper on his “Reflections from Parliament” at a roundtable yesterday, said if the minister did not resign after the censor, the President might have to revoke his appointment.
However, he said if the President refused to revoke the appointment of the minister after the censor, “it will be a blot on his credentials”.
For instance, he said although Parliament approved the allocation of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) to the various districts, the Minister of Finance failed to release the money.
That posture, he said, was a violation of the Acts of Parliament that required Members of Parliament (MPs) to censor the Minister of Finance.
The roundtable on the theme “Electoral Accountability and Political Incentives: The Challenges of Consensus Building in African Democracies”, was organised by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) in collaboration with the United States Embassy in Accra.
It was attended by leaders of political parties, heads of civil society organisations, academicians and students.
Repeal laws
Mr Owusu-Adjapong, who was also a former Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, asked MPs to not allow their political affiliations to hinder them from sanctioning ministers of state who violate Acts of Parliament.
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Mr Owusu-Adjapong said if MPs could not ensure adherence to Acts of Parliament, then Parliament should take steps to repeal such Acts.
“If we do not see the need for such laws, we need to repeal the laws,” he said.
Committees in Parliament
The former majority leader said the appointment of a member of the opposition political party as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee was in the right direction.
He, therefore, suggested that the chairmanship of the Government Assurance Committee be also reserved for a member of the opposition party.
That, he said, would guide and monitor the promises and works of ministers of state.
Mr Owusu-Adjapong proposed that members of the various select committees in Parliament be made to join the vetting committee, depending on the sector, whose nominee was being vetted for ministerial positions.
He said such a move would indicate the level of appreciation of the nominees to their respected designated ministries.
MPs and promises
Mr Owusu-Adjapong asked MPs to stop making promises of development projects to their respective constituents and rather concentrate on their main functions of law making and policy options.
He said such promises became an albatross around the necks of the MPs since they were only entitled to five per cent of the Common Fund, is Minister of Finance.
Political scientist
An Associate Professor and Chairperson of Political Science at the Haverford College, Pennsylvania in the United States of America, Prof. Susanna D. Wing, said Ghana stood out as one of the countries with political rights and civil liberty.
She said Ghana had a strong opposition, and stressed the need for the country to embrace that image and come together to move the country forward.
Prof. Wing said, “Democracy built on election alone is fragile,” and indicated that other ingredients such as transparency and accountability were required to deepen it.
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