The 1992 Constitution Must Be Blamed

And So Also Must The Two Dominant Parties (NDC And NPP) That Have Controlled Ghanaian Politics Since January 1993 Be Blamed.

By: Otchere Darko

Re: “Blame Parliament, not Mahama for his pay rise- Fred Agbenyo”; [by courtesy of Ghanaweb General News of Friday, 2 November 2012; Source: Joy Online]

There is a proverb that says “scratch my back for me and I will scratch yours for you”. During my school days, a commercial driver from my town had in bold letters written on the backside of his commercial vehicle another proverb that said: “see me I see you”. Another driver plying on the same road had also written on his vehicle an inscription in the Twi language that said: “yeredi bi ako”, which translated literally to English means “before we go, we are ‘chopping’ ”. All the three proverbs, or sayings that have been cited here emphasise the twin concepts of ‘bribery’ and ‘corruption’ that have sadly become the joint ‘signature tune’ of the two dominant parties (NDC and NPP). These proverb and inscriptions mentioned passed through my confused mind, as I struggled to understand how and why members of NDC in a Parliament that has an NDC majority could commit such a blunder of awarding nearly a one-hundred percent increase in the salary of President Mahama less than six months after becoming the leader of a Government that uses the slogan “Better Ghana Agenda”. Does it sound like a “better agenda” for NDC Parliamentarians to double the salaries of the President, his Deputy and other top members of the Executive soon after several nurses recently went on strike to protest against non-payment of their salaries and allowances, or at a time when many pupils in rural areas in the North and other poor parts of Ghana attend classes under trees? Certainly, Parliament must be blamed; but there are more factors involved in the circumstances that led MPs to award such huge and disproportionate salary increases to the President, his Deputy and other members of the Executive specified under article 71 of the 1992 Constitution.... increase that have led to a lot of criticisms; and which, also, have led the NDC youth activist (Mr Fred Agbenyo) to erroneously put the blame squarely on Parliament during a Kokrokoo Radio discussion.

For the sake of readers who might have missed the discussion on Kokrokoo radio and might, also. have failed to read Ghanaweb General News of Friday, 2 November 2012, I like to reproduce below a copy of a the relevant portion of that Ghanaweb publication, to enable such readers to form their own opinion on the topic that forms the basis of the said Kokrokoo radio discussion:-

“A youth activist[s] of the governing National Democratic Congress Fred Agbenyo, says the president is not to blame for the increase in salary of the president.

Fred Agbenyo insists the president did not in the comfort of his bedroom decree a new salary increase of 12,000 cedis per month to himself and another 10,500 per month to his vice.

He was speaking on Peace FM’s morning show programme, Kokrokoo on Friday.

Critics have questioned the rationale of the increases, given the prevailing economic situation in the country.

A member of the Communications team of the New Patriotic Party John Boadu who was also on the show did not fail to remind the NDC the morality campaign they waged against the NPP when the same issue cropped up in 2008-09.” [End of quote; by courtesy of Ghanaweb General News of Friday, 2 November 2012; Source: Joy Online.]

Parliament is wrong; there is no doubt about that. However, since Parliament is made up of nearly one hundred percent combined NDC and NPP members, one can safely conclude that the two dominant parties (NDC and NPP), like the Parliamentarians who represent them, are equally guilty of error of moral judgment. Surprisingly, a senior NPP member has said “Nothing [is] wrong with Prez, Ministers and deputies pay rise – NPP”; [reference: Ghanaweb General News of Saturday, 3 November 2012; Source: radioxyzonline.com]. Why is the NPP supporting this hike? Only God knows why! And why also are all top NDC members quiet over such a political blunder? Why should an NDC youth activist pass the blame on Parliament and not his Party? Does he not know that NDC controls Parliament because of its majority? Most importantly, how can all politicians on both sides of the divide support something that is so morally wrong? THIS IS BECAUSE THEY ARE HIDING BEHIND THE 1992 CONSTITUTION WHICH IS FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED. This fundamental flaw has provided politicians on both sides of the august house the opportunity to ‘exploit’ the “see me I see you” financial situation for their personal advantage, using the flawed constitutional provisions as a legal justification for their clear acts of collusion that allow the Executive and Parliament to “scratch each other’s back”, for each other, to derive mutual advantage to the detriment of the State. *Article 71 of the Constitution allows the President to determine the emolument of members of Parliament. *Then, article 68(3) of the same Constitution also says, and I quote: “The President shall receive such salary, allowances and facilities as may be prescribed by Parliament on the recommendations of the committee referred to in article 71 of the Constitution”. *When one goes back to know more about the committee mentioned by article 68(3), one notices that the same President appoints the committee; though he does that in consultation with the Council of State. But then, it should not be forgotten that the same President appoints the Council of State that advises him on many issues that include the appointment of the committee that determines the salaries and other emoluments of both the President and Parliament. So, where lie the checks and balances that are supposed to ensure the proper and efficient functioning of democracy in Ghana, as it happens in all efficient democracies.

When one considers all these different but complementary scenarios, one draws the conclusion that a matrix of interloping interest groups and intercessory constitutional provisions came into play to arrive at the determination of the current salary increase that has been awarded to the President in accordance with article 68(3) of the Constitution. It is very clear that the President, Parliament, the NDC, the NPP and the weaknesses in the 1992 Constitution have all played major roles in creating the problem that the NDC youth activist (Mr Fred Agbenyo) superficially delved through before narrow-mindedly blaming Parliament only for it during the Kokrokoo radio discussion that forms the reference of this write-up.

Do readers need reminding that Parliamentarians who approved the huge salary increase for the President in accordance with the said article 68(3|), have also recently been awarded approximately one-hundred percent salary increases by the President in accordance with powers granted him by article 71 of the Constitution...... which increases also came under heavy criticism? Nothing better illustrates the proverb that says “scratch my back for me and I will scratch yours for you” than this ‘double coincidence’ of award of two salary increases that have benefitted both President Mahama and other members of the Executive on one hand, and all Parliamentarians on the other hand. The fact that the rates of the two salary increases are also proportionate to each other supports the idea of collusion, which further illustrates the second proverb that says “see me I see you”. *Here the President has literally ‘looked after’ the MPs and the MPs have in their turn literally ‘looked after’ the President. Finally, the collusion is a classic illustration of “yeredi bi ako”. And who can blame them when these politicians feel that they must ‘chop’ before they go [on recess]? After all, they need money to bribe the electorate to ensure that they can come back to continue to ‘chop’. “Ghana is Ghana,” they all know. Ghanaians talk but they do nothing thereafter.

President Mahama’s response to the “approved salary increases for the president and the entire executive arm of government” only came after there were “sharp criticisms from a section of public, including some civil society organisations” over the big salary hikes. Besides, Parliament cannot do anything about reviewing the hikes now and before the December elections. *It is thus clear that President Mahama’s publicised response, which came too late, is intended to calm voters’ nerves prior to the elections. *Is it a mere ‘election gimmick’? Well, I don’t know. I leave that to voters to determine. WHAT I CAN SAY FOR SURE IS THAT PRESIDENT MAHAMA IS A ‘CLEVER POLITICIAN’ [*Readers who missed the President’s response can read it at Ghanaweb General News Archives of Sunday, 4 November 2012, caption: “President asks Parliament to review salaries of officials of the executive, Source: Joy Online”].

*NDC and NPP have had between them a total of [nearly] twenty years to rectify the flaw in the Constitution that allows the Executive to collude with Parliament by using an ordinary parliamentary majority to vote for Parliamentary and Executive salary increases for the mutual benefit of the two arms of Government.

Source: Otchere Darko