Why October 26, 2022 is an important day on Ghana’s political calendar

Ordinarily, there shouldn’t be anything special about the day, Wednesday, October 26, 2022, but politically, Ghanaians would have two major things to look out for. Coincidentally too, these two things concern members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP). It becomes even more relevant because of the many relationships that a lot of people are drawing between all the things happening in the United Kingdom at present, and why Ghana should take cues from it. For more clarity, in the last week in the UK, Prime Minister, Liz Truss succumbed to mounting pressure from parliament and tendered in her resignation, making her the shortest-serving Prime Minister ever. Days after, British-born Indian Member of Parliament for Richmond, Rishi Sunak, made history by being elected the first person of colour and the youngest in the last 200 years to be PM of the UK. The fate of Ken Ofori-Atta in the balance: In Ghana, calls are already mounting for the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to be sacked, or, as other people have suggested, he should resign. And that is one of the reasons Ghanaians should be interested in the happenings of Wednesday, October 26. A day before – Tuesday, October 25, 2022, Ghanaians got the shock of their lives when news emerged that some 80 Members of Parliament from the Majority Caucus (whose government is in power) called for Ken Ofori-Atta to be sacked. The MPs, most of whom are backbenchers, stated that this was a simple scenario of doing the bidding of their constituents and nothing else. “Most of the majority caucus came to this decision because it is what our constituents wanted. This is not something we wanted to do but it is what the people who voted for us, our constituents wanted. This was not by a rebel group in the caucus. “There is a lot of pressure on us. If you go to your constituency office and you listen to the concerns of your constituents it is very disheartening. Just yesterday, three women visited my office and they were crying while narrating how they had lost their businesses because the price of a gallon of oil they used to purchase for GH¢60 [600] is now selling for GH¢1000. “The other MPs also shared their experience and we saw that it all boils down to the same thing. So, this is how we came to the decision that we have to let the president know what our constituents want. We had to let him know, otherwise, our people will not listen to us if we go to them again,” Ahenkrorah said in a radio interview on Neat FM. The 80 MPs also stated in their press briefing that should President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo fail to heed to their call, they will henceforth make government business in parliament a difficult one for him. They added that they will begin by absenting themselves from the reading and participation in the 2023 budget statement in parliament. Although President Nana Akufo-Addo held a late meeting with the NPP MPs calling for the sack of Ken Ofori-Atta, asking them to allow the minister to seal the IMF deal first, it is the hope of many that the minister would make an announcement on his own before close of day. Speaker to determine fate of Sarah Adwoa Safo: News of the fate or otherwise of the Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, is no longer a big news but the decision that will be made by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, is one many are looking forward to. It will be recalled that since 2021, there have been many calls for the MP to make clear her stance in her political position, both as MP and as minister, but she never did come clear on it. As a major first step, and after many attempts to get her to fall in line, President Akufo-Addo sacked her as the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection. Having been away from Ghana for the greater part of 2021 and 2022, many have also wondered how it is that she is able to execute her work as an MP in absentia. Calls have been made for her seat to be declared vacant, among others, though the decision by parliament has taken some time, it appears a finality will be brought to the subject when parliament sits on Wednesday. Giving his assurances of delivering his final verdict on the fate of the MP on this day, many people are looking forward to what that ruling would be. The last time parliament was to determine the fate of Sarah Adwoa Safo, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, speaking during the last sitting of the third meeting of this eighth parliament, said he would not want to make a hasty decision. He therefore informed the House that on resumption for the fourth sitting of this parliament, he would deliver his verdict on the matter. “I have consulted the old lady. The old lady has given me an advice and I think that advice is clear because the issues raised by the Majority Leader is both substantive and procedural law and I need time to submit to this House a reasoned, written ruling. “I cannot in the haste of today, give you the ruling. In the circumstances, I’d urge this House for us to call it a day,” he said. It is also worth mentioning that the call for the seat of Dome-Kwabenya to be declared vacant was made by the NPP MPs, knowing very well that it is the seat of one of their members. The events of the day are surely expected to be interesting. You can also watch this episode of People & Places: AE/WA