GFL: Executive and Legislature impasse dangerous for our democracy

The apparent impasse between the Executive and Legislative arms of government is dangerous for our democracy, as Mr. Abraham Koomson has stated and called on the Council of State to immediately intervene before it becomes a weapon to disrupt Ghana’s democracy.

Mr. Koomson, who is the Secretary General of the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), also called on the Peace Council, Civil Society Organizations, Religious and Traditional Leaders, and the Eminent Group to work together to settle the feud between the Executive and the Legislature.

The GFL Secretary General, who was speaking to newsmen in Tema at the weekend, also expressed concern about some of the acts of the Executive, especially towards the Legislature, which denigrates the Parliament and their powers.

“The President’s posture towards bills passed by Parliament, where he seems to pick and choose which bills to accent, is an unhealthy governance practice; we must be ruled by the tenets of the 1992 Constitution.

“The Executive is not more powerful than the other arms of government; they are all to play a complementary role to ensure good governance. Worse off are the postures of some elements within the Executive who have assumed undemocratic powers and speak and act with impunity; such acts must stop in the interest of Ghana’s democracy and peace in the country,” Mr. Koomson stated.

Mr. Koomson expressed indignation that the NPP claims to be a party of lawyers, but lawlessness has become a recurring feature under the current administration. “We must all play our constitutionally mandated check and balance roles to save Mother Ghana from tyrannic rule.”

He pointed out that despite the NPP’s claim of being a party of lawyers, it has now turned into "bugabuga," "patapaaa," and lawlessness; “every appointee has become a law unto themselves, most dangerously disrespecting other arms of government as well as dissenting views.”

The Secretary-General of the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) also launched scathing criticism against the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, labelling them as an incompetent bunch governing the nation.

Mr. Koomson noted that governments worldwide give premiums to the manufacturing industry because that is the growth cycle for the development agenda, but unfortunately, under the current government, the opposite has rather become the norm as over-taxation is killing industries.

“The manufacturing industry can only grow and produce the expected added value if investors have the assurance of investment protection, growth, and uninterrupted continuity.

“Investments in land, plants, machinery, and related equipment for the comprehensive package of the manufacturing business require that the investment need not less than an assured continuous operational period of 15 to 20 years to recoup, all other things being constant,” he stated.

The GFL Secretary General said the current piecemeal granting of zero VAT for locally manufactured textile products is as good as the uncertainty that characterizes the investment in the industry.

He said the government ought to promote investment assurance in the industry, which will also make the industry competitive.

“An uninterrupted relief period carries with it the assurance that every investor desires. The imposition of unhealthy and treacherous indirect taxes creates an unfavourable investment climate.

“Imposition of outrageous indirect taxes like excise and levies results in high prices of goods and services because such excise and levies inflate the taxable base of goods; even those consumed by the school going pre-teen and the teen ages are not proofs of GDP growth but a destruction to the parental financial strength,” Mr. Koomson lamented.

Mr. Koomson revealed that the recently expanded inclusion of certain products in the excise duty regime by the NPP is killing productivity, resulting in the laying off of workers and the closing down of factories because of very low sales in the face of higher production costs, amongst others.

He, therefore, called on the NPP government to amend its ways: “The government still has a few months to review its own policies and reduce the burden they have put on Ghanaians for close to eight years now.”