Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, former MP for Nandom
Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, a former MP for Nandom has stated that the Akufo-Addo administration is still yet to recover from the narrowness of the numbers in the 8th Parliament.
According to him, it is early days yet for anybody to think that Parliament has become a “rubber stamp”.
He explained that after the House returns from their recess, the new entrants i.e. the first time MPs would have reached the peak of their learning curve and they will begin to pick up.
After the approval of some controversial Ministers of State, some individuals within the opposition NDC and some segments of the society Ghanaian society began to doubt how effective the hung parliament will be.
Speaking to Citi TV as monitored by GhanaWeb, Dr Kunbuor said: “It’s early days yet. The Parliamentary cycle is a very interesting cycle when you start. This is a very major recess they’ve gone on. It is after they return that particularly the new entrants in Parliament would have reached approximately the peak of their learning curve and now have a clear understanding of the Standing Orders and Procedures in Parliament; you begin to see how it will pick up.
He continued: “The second issue when you have [a hung-parliament] is that, if you watch, you will notice that government has toned down on the daily rhetoric in terms of the style of delivery, in terms of accommodating some [of] the inhouse suggestions that are coming from the opposition. In short, the government is still yet to recover from the narrowness of the numbers in Parliament.”
He explained further that the numbers in Parliament have reduced a situation whereby some Ministers of State become very boisterous, “people throwing their weight about and making all sorts of utterances; people are a bit more circumspect.”
Dr Kunbuor further hinted that at the time he was leaving Parliament as a Majority Leader, he predicted an opposition Majority, something that nearly came to pass.
He believes that it would have strengthened Ghana’s democratic process as well as the oversight responsibility role the legislative arm of government has over the Executive.
“When I was the Majority Leader when I was leaving, the last speech I delivered on the floor was to the effect that if you watch the trends, the electorates were likely to start giving every political party a one-term because there was a lot of impatience on the ground about our delivery and our performance and I said the worst thing which will be good to happen to this country, we are likely in the shortest possible time, to have a Majority in Parliament that is not govern[ing]. And I said when that happens, that is when parliamentary oversight becomes very very useful…,” he noted.
