Put country before party - Justice Crabbe to MPs

The Statute Law Revision Commissioner, Justice V. C. R. A. C. Crabbe at the weekend said Members of Parliament (MPS) were not obliged to tow any particular line since they were the representatives of their people and delegates.

He said: "An MP is a representative to serve the nation as whole, not necessarily the interests of the constituency, nor, indeed the interests of the political party which the member belongs. If an MP cannot put country before party, he/she is not fit to be in Parliament."

Justice Crabbe was speaking at a two-day capacity building workshop for the leadership of Parliamentary Select Committees at Akosombo organised by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in collaboration with the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development, (CDD-Ghana) and Friedrich Nuamann Foundation at

Akosombo.

The workshop aimed at strengthening the capacity and technocratic base of committees of Parliament and reviewed the role of the chairpersons and leadership of Parliamentary Committees; deliberated on how to render the Committees more proactive, strengthen agenda/priority setting and time management and improve media relations and reach out to the public.

Justice Crabbe, who was speaking on: "How to render the Leadership of the Parliamentary Committees more proactive," said the three arms of government played complementary roles and not competitive. Each did not exist to the exclusion of the others.

Parliament had within its powers, to detect and supply the deficiencies in legislation proposed by the Executive, he said, but stressed that the House had failed the nation woefully on this directive.

He, therefore, urged the MPs, to re-examine their political principles and actions, as they were part of the social administration of the country. The Statutes Commissioner, therefore, urged the Parliamentarians to have a defined policy of their own, scrutinise bills on their reality as opposed to the theory, stressing; "the winnowing stage of the consideration of bills is very, very admirable.

"But winnowing implies separating the chaff from the wheat, the chaff in our present context implies background knowledge of an informed policy, which you need to bring to bear on the subject at hand."

Justice Crabbe said; "I appreciate the collective policy of your respective political parties, but when an issue arises before the House, what is your informed policy as an individual Member of Parliament; as a citizen of the Republic, which you can use to measure the line taken by the political party in relation to the policy expressed by the Government in the Bill?"

Explaining the role of Leadership of Parliamentary Committees, the former Clerk of Parliament, S. N. Darkwa said the Committees performed important tasks, which were mostly complex and technical that all the 200 members could not effectively carry out in the chamber.

He outlined some of the duties as scrutinising bills and delegated legislation - statutory instruments in detail; examining government accounts to ensure value for money in respect of government expenditure; to oversee the activities of the Executive in greater depth than in the House and to investigate issues and provide public contact.

Darkwa said the Constitution provided for the establishment of Standing Committees to which every member including Ministers must belong as well as the formation of Select Committees that existed by virtue of the standing orders and members were selected from backbenchers.

He said the House also from time to time set up Adhoc Committees to consider a particular problem or a matter of public importance. On the powers of Parliamentary Committees, the Former Clerk said they were circumscribed by the rules laid down in standing orders of the House and observed that the House at times was reluctant to allow Committees much scope or initiative to make inquiry into matters which had not been referred to it.

He said although they were constrained, the Committees were sufficiently well armed to carry out their tasks and could compel the relevant bodies to produce documents and papers relevant to their inquiry.

They could also require the attendance of witnesses and examine them on oath or affirmation, he said, stressing that anyone who refused to appear before a Committee might be charged with contempt and punished accordingly.

Darkwa advised Committees not to detract from the essential purpose of the House to attend to committee meetings as they reduced attendance in the Chamber and created absence of a quorum.

The Constitution requires that a quorum should be present before the House could commence business and a different quorum is need before decision could be taken in the House. The absence of a quorum in the Chamber, therefore, disrupts businesses to be transacted.

The Former Clerk, therefore, tasked Chairpersons of Committees to ensure that meetings were not held during sittings, except when committees were required to consider urgent bills or matters of urgent public interest.

Papa Owusu-Ankamah, the Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, urged the Committees to be pro-active. He said "though the scope of the powers of Committees has on many occasions been the subject of debate, there is no doubt that Committees of our Parliament have great potential which still remain largely unexplored.

"While various reasons may be assigned for this situation, especially the dearth of resources in terms of support, both human and financial, it must be admitted that probably there may be something more that ought to be done by members themselves, particularly the Leadership of Committees to enable it to become more effective," he emphasised.

The Majority Leader urged the Leadership of Committees to lead the House in its monitoring and investigative roles and to meet the growing demand that Parliament ensured that public office holders discharged their responsibilities in the interest of the nation.

The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs said the Executives had a genuine interest in supporting Parliament to strengthen its capacity to enable it to complement the efforts of the Executive in the implementation of its programmes.

Papa Owusu-Ankamah also lauded the confidence and ability of MPs and Parliament to meet the expectations of Ghanaians. Other speakers included Hon. Freddie Blay, the First Deputy Speaker and Dr Audrey Gadzekpo of School of Communications, University of Ghana, Legon.