An old bus and A President's day in Parliament

A GNA colour by Samuel Osei-Frempong

Accra, Jan. 31, GNA - An old Tata bus rolled by on a Tuesday with doors and windows shaking and shattering while various dancers, security men and dignitaries swamped the frontage of the Parliamentary Chamber.


No sooner had it spared the glorious occasion its unsavourily spectacle did more beautiful and colourful vehicles stream into the precincts of the legislative hub.


Their tyres did not screech neither did their doors shake as they rolled smoothly on the hardly used asphalted road preserved for ceremonies.


A small tent draped in the national colours of red, gold and green, a stopover for a President, stood at the foot of a three-tier staircase that make for the entrance of a Parliamentary Chamber.


A red long carpet preserved for a presidential stroll rolled from the foot to the apex of the same staircase.

Two batches of Military men resplendent in ceremonial attire stood in front of a reactivated fountain whose bubbling and swinging loads of water made sounds audible from a distance.


A flag hanged loosely from the side of their Leader whose task was to stand still for a Presidential inspection. This is the day President John Agyekum Kufuor the President of a Republic that was once upon a time called the Land of Gold addressed the sovereign people of Ghana.


In the Chamber, three massive drums called "fontomfrom" stood on the right side of the Speakers acre with tall stools on which the drummers would hang and stretch before driving their curved sticks onto the drum surface to produce the booming sounds to herald the entry of the President.


When the time was auspicious an elegant President Kufuor strolled into the Chamber made for the representative of the people. His chair: Huge, tall and colourful is made of pure gold. It rested in between that of the Speaker and the Chief Justice. Indeed it was the day the three estates of the realm came together in the presence of the fourth.


The Vice President also had space on the elevated platform called the Speaker's acre.

Long colourful linen straps ran from all corners of the Chamber forming a rainbow-like canopy for the many legislators and Ministers of State, who had the privilege to read every lip movement of the President.


This time around, he had very few words since the early presentation of the Budget had taken "a lot of wind from his sail".


It was a day of fun for him as he smiled and laughed away all the booing, heckling and catcalls of the Minority.


They had unconsciously attempted to blight his bright day but he stood his grounds and rode through like the knight with the shining armour.


But his compatriots did not let him walk alone for they hurled back every word or gesture to the opposing side.

President Kufuor declared:" The state of the nation is good and the general spirit is one of optimism."


The Great African, who had a simple black jacket worn over a white shirt stood in front of his countrymen and women to assure them that all was well with a country readying herself for economic takeoff. Like the old bus, which shook even on a smooth surface, one's mindset would determine how he would appreciate the long journey called statehood.


It was a beautiful sunlit morning in which birds chirped to celebrate the beginning of the last day of the first month of a new year. 31 Jan. 06