Independence of Parliament, now a "fading shadow"

Accra, Sept. 13, GNA - Mr Kofi Kumado, Professor at Law, University of Ghana, Legon, on Wednesday said the real challenge of Parliament was to bring about the promise of independence, which the ordinary Ghanaian now saw "as a fading shadow".

He said he did not see any serious constitutional blemish inhibiting its legislative and financial autonomy but that the challenge of poverty and ignorance was what the Legislators must address.


The Professor was speaking on: 'Financial Autonomy for Governance Institution: A Justifiable Means of Asserting Legislative Independence? at the 20th Speaker's Breakfast Forum in Parliament House.


Mr Kumado said Parliament enjoyed legislative sovereignty in the sense that it was the sole body that had almost all the powers to make laws. The Law Professor argued that Article 108 of the Constitution, which was not properly interpreted, had been misconstrued as a standing block to the initiation and tabling of Private Member?s Motions, which might have financial implications.


He said that need not be the case because the operational phrase in the Article was "in the opinion of the person presiding", which meant that the Speaker of Parliament had the discretion to determine which bill carried financial burden on the Consolidated Fund.


He said although Parliament had constitutional limitations in the making of laws, it could comfortably legislate and oversee Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

According to the Professor, the much publicised debate about the inadequate funding of Parliament should be addressed by Parliament itself since it had all the power by virtue of its control of the purse to get all that it wanted from the Executive.


"In America Congress can shut down the machinery of government, which forces the Executive to negotiate. When I give this example people see me as an anarchist but I sincerely believe that this gives the Congress, which is their Parliament a bargaining tool to make their case."


Mr Kumado said most of the time Parliamentarians passed the budget and then complained that they had not been treated fairly by the Executive. He said negotiation for better conditions of service and institutional funding for Parliament should begin or initiated well before the budget was brought before the House.


The Professor said Article 71 of the Constitution, which captured in detail the conditions of service of Parliamentarians needed not to be an obstacle to the performance of MPs since they also had the power to determine conditions of service of the Executive.


He said Article 78 of the Constitution, which also compelled the President to choose from within Parliament majority of Cabinet Members, needed not be a problem as it rather strengthened the bond between the Executive and the Legislature.

Mr Kumado said the Constitution should be studied very well so that people would appreciate the governance system, which it wanted to create because people read their own ideas into the interpretation of the Constitution. The Law Professor said Ghana had a past, which: "I think influenced the making of this Constitution. We should let the Constitution grow before touching it because we are yet to see a full cycle."


Mr Kumado said governance institutions must be used as part of a strategy for addressing the nation's challenges of the nation's governance institutions to avoid frequently amending the Constitution.


He cautioned politicians not to ask for too much because the kitty of the nation was small, "in fact smaller than our real needs." He said perhaps the problems of Parliament laid in the historical fact that it had suffered many interruptions in its working life since its creation in 1850.


Mr Ebenezer Begyina Sekyi Hughes, Speaker of Parliament, said democracy in Ghana could not be entrenched without the institution of Parliament embracing views of civil society.


He said he expected that the discussion would kick-start a national debate for the best means of addressing the mode of financing Parliament and other governance institutions in Ghana.