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Odeneho lawmaking

Ans U Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh

Mon, 26 Sep 2016 Source: Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh

By Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh

Without common sense, no motherland ever ably operates a democratic constitution. And when a congresspeople group in our motherland is constantly thinking evilly, an edge towards constitutional crisis is felt.

Common sense tells me ‘exclusive’ reference to CHRAJ as an investigating agency borders on the investigative mechanisms under the ambit of the executive branch of government.

Accordingly, Police (CID), MI, EOCO, BNI, presidential commissions and ministerial committees are what the ‘exclusive’ provision relating to CHRAJ is talking about. Actually, besides intra-arm enquiries, each branch of government is allowed its own mechanism (s) for extra-arm investigation of the other two branches.

That’s how the separated arms check each other’s excesses in the exercise of constitutional power.

Because the executive executes, it has more investigative mechanism than the other two. That notwithstanding, none of its agencies is above the legislature and certainly not above the judiciary. Everything executive is subject to legislature and judiciary regulation. It washes not then to stretch CHRAJ jurisdiction beyond the executive to subsume the legislature.

Too many times lawmaking has drained the motherland’s resources by spending time without results.

Purposeless abrupt summoning has consumed resources without nation-building dividends.

The most notorious was the STX scam. Much of the 2012 post-election litigation imbroglio owes direct link to lawmaking idling in rubber stamping error-ridden EC draft election legislation. A majority always the spokesperson on with ‘pass.’

Indeed, many have been the occasions for lawmaking indolence because documents were not properly scrutinised. A particular spokesperson, whether deputising or is the substantive, seems to have a penchant for misguidance. He is always in haste to lead his colleagues through error-ridden legislation.

That’s the kind of character you do not attempt to construct democracy with. Democracy may have a beginning. However, it has no end. It is constructed continuously as work in progress. So if you have an institutional head who believes not or understands not or chooses both, your motherland is unlikely to grow her democracy.

Democracy, indeed, works in a cluster or web of intertwined institutions.

These are called democratic institutions. Those who choose to measure the strength of a democracy measure the strength of its composite institutions. It is for this reason that brother Obama requested that we work towards building our institutions.

Comparatively, far greater attempts at that marked the 2001-2008 governance. Much of 1993-2000 and since 2009 has been wasted with undermining, rather than building institutions.

Congress regimes usually have actors who appropriate everything state as their private property with the purpose of milking the state cash cow into their private pockets.

They enter government with little or nothing and leave with their pockets stashed with stolen public funds.

No motherland gets built or developed by kleptocrats. Congress borrows to steal from the borrowed and then claims borrowing as an achievement.

To think Blaa Kutu was denied lending because of ‘yentua’ (won’t repay dubious loans such as 2009 to date borrowing spree), and still constructed infrastructure, is to weep for the future generation mortgaged through borrow-to-steal-into private pocket governance.

Today, yesterday’s student leader, the most ardent critics of Blaa Kutu, are the all-time congress (and its antecedent PNDC) looters; the worst economic and moral traitors of the motherland. General Blaa Kutu developed agriculture to exporting food! With congress’ know-nothing about agriculture, the motherland is now importing plantain, tomatoes, kontomire and okro!

‘Blistering barnacles!’ I feel like regurgitating. Congresspeople have killed the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), the student activist flagship that they all rode to steal political positions or get dubiously appointed to them.

When NUGS was NUGS, the group would team up with organised compatriots to fight governments on behalf of the unorganised. Today, the congress policy of impoverish everyone, scale down education and health and render as many as you can hopeless has destroyed organisation for development mobilisation.

Congress has no answer to its own engineered misery.

Their determination to muzzle lawmaking and rip and twist the few good laws we have, bodes no relief for those of us suffering exclusion and deprivation.

They have installed their power stealing through what they want us to believe as free and fair elections firmly in place.

They are holding on tight to a fraudulent election register that is only a list of count with room for manipulation.

There is nothing like good lawmaking now. Good lawmaking is ?deneho (independent) lawmaking. So far, it’s been ?nne ne ho (without independence) lawmaking.

So unless some eagle-eye monitored election reintroduces an Akufo-Addo/Bawumia great thinking, competent duo to reform lawmaking, forget about development or freedom in this motherland.

Rulings that last 12 minutes and at the end of which the rulers leave unceremoniously guarantee institutional deconstruction and lead to unmitigated economic and social disaster.

Just watch, listen; when the spokesman speaks, he speaks debts, corruption and errors.

Columnist: Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh