"We're not hypocrites" - Parliamentarians

Accra, Jan. 12, GNA - Some members of Parliament on Wednesday debunked the notion held by a section of the public that they are hypocrites who are into politics to deceive Ghanaians for personal gains. "I am glad that someone is saying we co-operate.

When there is division in society, it is Parliament, which must hold it together. We should not sow seeds of discord," Dr.Kwabena Adjei, the Majority Leader said. He was reacting to a statement by a contributor at the seventh annual public forum organised by Parliament at the National Theatre in Accra.

The annual event was instituted at the instance of Mr. Justice Daniel Annan, Speaker, as one of the legislature's outreach programmes to give the public an insight into its activities. The contributor had received the applause from the audience after asserting, "Politicians are fooling us, they insult each other in public and wine and dine together in private" Mr .J. H. Mensah, the Minority Leader said, " Without differences in opinions and positions, Parliament is about nothing."

He said the fact that politicians argue and show clear differences in opinion on national matters and later socialise does not mean that they betraying their followers. Mr Mensah asked the public to volunteer information to their various representatives in Parliament to strengthen the nation's democracy.

On the recent unresolved murders of women in Accra, the Member of Parliament for Yendi, Alhaji Mali Alhassan Yakubu said, the low human and capital resource base of the Police Service has rendered it weak and slow to attend to matters as swift as expected. He said Parliament has endeavoured to see to it that the Police was well equipped.

Nii Okaiji Adamafio, Minister of the Interior, countered that the Ministry does not wait for parliamentary prodding or pressure from anywhere before it does its work. He assured the public that the Police are working tirelessly to unravel the mystery behind the serial killing Two opposing responses were given when a questioner wanted to know about the periodic change in the ex-pump price of petroleum products.

"Parliament will soon find a way to work its way into the fixing of these prices because it is the people who suffer and not the market, which suffer as a result of these increases," was the reply from Mr Mensah. The Deputy Minister for Mines and Energy, Simon Abingya, explained that market forces over which the government has no control dictate prices. He said, " that does not mean government is not sensitive to the plight of the people".

A disabled questioner, who wanted to take the Minister of Employment and Social Welfare to task for being insensitive to her plight, had her day messed up, when the Minister's response raised doubts about her credibility. She had petitioned Parliament for help to establish a vocational institute but after investigations, Alhaji Mohammad Mumuni found that her " antecedence were in no way honourable."

The Volta Regional Parliament Caucus was also taken to task for not doing enough to lessen the plight of their constituents. Squadron Leader retired Clend Sowu, blamed the perceived retrogression of the region on inadequate publicity.

Mr Justice Annan noted that Parliament was able to perform its functions during the year, under very severe constraints. He said there was inadequate physical infrastructure to accommodate the needs of members, adding, "as I speak now, not even all the Leaders have offices to themselves for official duties.

Committees of the House meet in corridors to discuss matters referred to them". He said there was also the problem of unreasonable constituency pressures brought to bear on individual MPs, noting that financial resources placed at their disposal are woefully inadequate to meet the numerous and unjustifiable demands made on them by their constituencies.

"The effect of this situation, if not checked, would be the creation of the absentee MP and possibilities of corruption. "It is my considered opinion, ladies and gentlemen, that it is about time the perception of the MP as 'Father Christmas' was ended", the Speaker told the forum.

Mr Justice Annan said that during the period under review, the House had to depend on a Parliamentary Service that was understaffed with the few officers being stretched to their limits. "I must, however, state that a number of contingency measures have been taken by the Parliamentary Service Board to address the staffing problem".

He announced that Parliament has obtained significant financial assistance through the Ministry of Finance, to commence work on the Tower Block (Job 600) Rehabilitation Project, which when completed, will hopefully solve the accommodation problem facing the Members He said work on the project is expected to begin as soon as the necessary financial details have been sorted out with the Ministry, which is holding the funds in trust of Parliament.

The Speaker said the year under review had been a period of intense international parliamentary activity, which started in May with the successful hosting by Parliament of the first ever Conference of Speakers of ECOWAS Parliaments in Accra.

There was also the 30th Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Africa Region, and the Fifth Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Forum of African and Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development In an opening address, Mr John Mahama, Minister of Communications, noted that the year under review had been a difficult one for the country, considering the crisis in the gold industry, the collapse of commodity prices, especially cocoa, and the steep rise in world market price for crude oil.

Mr Mahama said in spite of these difficulties that resulted in an economic downturn in the second half of the year, Parliament lost none of its lustre. He said from near acrimonious argument on the propriety of the acquisition of an executive jet, to the motion requesting the resignation of the Minister of Finance, the House retained its true character, a forum for the exercise of democracy.

The Minister reminded the forum that the country has entered a New Year and a new century and said the year 2000 is very crucial in respect of the survival and growth of democracy. "At this critical juncture in our nation's history, it is necessary for us to consolidate our sense of national unity and integration.

"Let us remember that we are first and foremost, Ghanaians before anything else. We are first and foremost Ghanaians before our individual ethnic affiliations. We are first and foremost Ghanaians before any political party considerations. "It is a pity that our wrong application of party politics has created a situation in which people even from the same family are estranged or at war with each other because they belong to different political parties".

Mr Mahama pointed out that politics is not a life and death struggle, saying, "your political opponent or rival is not your enemy". He said "the ultimate desire of every Ghanaian is to see the country develop into a high income nation, in which all our people can have all the basic necessities of life and live comfortably".

Mr Mahama pleaded with Ghanaians to make year 2000 the beginning of a new era of politics in the country. "Let us stop the abuse of our President, the Speaker, Judges, MPs, Ministers and other public officers.

"It has become fashionable these days as a result of the freedom of speech and expression contained in our Constitution, to hurl indecent abuse, expletives and unfair criticism against public officers in all kinds of media. "In several cases, deliberate lies are fabricated about them.

They are even gleefully pronounced dead well in advance of their time. In a few cases, these attitudes are probably generated by a genuine sense of concern at things that go wrong in society", he said. The Minister noted, however, that in a large number of cases, the motivation to be rude and abusive is the result of the fact that "our preferred nominee or candidate is not the person in a particular position".

"When we abuse or show disrespect for the President or Ministers, we do not show disrespect for the individual who occupies the office, we lower the dignity and respect of the office itself".

"We will, therefore, find eventually, that we would be creating a situation, where in future, public office holders, including the Office of the President, cannot command the required respect and authority to move the nation along his or her vision", Mr Mahama said.

Mr J. H. Mensah, the Minority Leader, said Parliament would be ineffective without efficient communication. He said the legislature should be helped to bring its activities to the doorsteps of the people to promote democratic governance.

Mr Mensah said people, who are averse to opposition should remember that the essence of democracy is to allow for the making of informed and intelligent choices. He said, "if Parliament is not about stating different positions, then it is about nothing".

Dr Kwabena Adjei, the Majority Leader, supported the view expressed by the Minority Leader and said Parliament discusses issues on a non-partisan basis behind the scenes. Dr Adjei appealed to the media to be fair and objective and supportive of the public education programme of Parliament, saying that bias reporting could be dangerous to the nation.

He gave the assurance that Parliament would do its best to ensure that democracy takes roots in the country to avoid the unfortunate situations in neighbouring states.

A pictorial exhibition of the previous Parliaments, served as a side attraction to the forum, which was attended by dignitaries, including the First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, Ministers of State, diplomats and students.