Accra, July 13,GNA-In the expansive chamber of Parliament, a shrill voice echoed through the delicate speakers calling for fairness in the distribution of projects built with resources from the cocoa sector. He had strolled from a cocoa-farming village in the Western Region where the heavy canopy of leaves had sheltered his fragile frame but had hardly seen a cocoa clinic where he could heal his wounds.
So when he grew up and won the confidence of his people, he promised to tell their story in the House of debate and so he did at a time when government was about to plead to the House to allow it spend trillion point three trillion cedis in addition to what it had already taken from the purse.
From the press gallery, few empty chairs could be seen as all members of the House rushed through the cloudy morning to support a proposal, which has to be accepted by the House.
The Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, rolled his head in a big chair offered him as he looked at members with admiration. His press corps and security detail had rammed through every door and silenced the gatekeepers of Parliament.
But the smile and countenance of the second most powerful person in the country told a more positive story.
As the son of the cocoa farmer told his story, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance strolled in and shared the little space near the dispatch box with the Vice President. His day was blurred by an unpopular request by the Minority: he should tell his story later because the procedure would no permit him to do so.
The Asante Akyem native must have been conversant with late evening story telling by the fireside, which most children hardly miss, but to stop the old woman from taking her seat near the fireside was tantamount to sacrilege.
He lived through the day as the odds weighted against his opponents and when he began his story, a thunderous applause welcomed him. He told the story short and simple: government was about to spend four point three trillion cedis on Ministries, Department and Agencies to promote human resource development, private sector and good governance.
The Chamber had not had any form of decoration for the day. This panelled walls received the lights that shone high above it into their bosom as usual.
The beautiful women who kissed and hugged him after he had read the 2006 budget in November last year did not show up. The fountains in front of the House did not spew the massive volumes of water as it used to be. Only workmen trying to complete a structure to be used as committee rooms, made their familiar noises with their tools and vulgar language. It was a day in which a son of Cocoa Farmer could tell the story of his people before the plea for the release of a huge sum of money could be made.
Just beside the Parliamentary Chamber, a huge parcel of land called the Osu Cemetery stretches with trees and tombs where true fairness and equality is expressed. In this part of town, the neighbours are more content in their deep and narrow graves where one holds on to his or her story.
