Akane Adabengba Adams, a former national treasurer of the People's National Convention (PNC), has urged minority parties, particularly those without representation in Parliament, to support the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the June 27 Assin North by-election in order to preserve the current nearly hung Parliament and maintain control over the public purse.
He claimed that given the current state of the economy, an absolute majority in Parliament, particularly from the current administration, was risky for Ghana's economy and could worsen the suffering of the populace.
For the sake of parliamentary democracy, Akane, as he prefers to be known, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that it was time for the smaller political parties to compromise on their principles and support the NDC in the by-election.
James Gyakye Quayson, a former treasurer who is in the Central Region as a PNC member to support the NDC candidate, claimed that an absolute majority in Parliament would result in the passage of laws that might not be beneficial to Ghana's citizens because "the majority will always use their numbers to push them through."
The NDC and the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) held 137 seats each in the House before to the declaration of James Gyakye Quayson's seat as vacant, plus one Independent candidate who leans NPP to create a narrow majority.
In a unanimous ruling last month, the Supreme Court directed Ghana's Parliament to remove James Gyakye Quayson's name as a Member of Parliament for the Assin North Constituency from its records.
The approaching by-election in the Assin North Constituency must be seen as a political exercise that should aid in strengthening Ghana's robust parliamentary democracy and our current political system. As a nation that has previously been hailed as a shining example for its contemporaries, our current economic status is not one in which we should be particularly pleased.Despite the numerous capital injections into the Ghanaian economy from the World Bank and the central bank during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, totaling a billion or more in dollars, the high cost of living, rise in unemployment rate, high interest rates, unstable inflation, persistent decline in our reserves, as well as the poor management of our Cedi, have led us to turn once more to the IMF for a bailout.The government's lack of budgetary restraint, fiscal indiscipline, and innovation are to blame for our current economic difficulties. These have caused investors to have less faith in the Ghanaian economy, which has decreased our opportunities on global capital markets.
What happened to government initiatives like NABCO, 1V1D, 1D1F, and the many others that received significant capital investments over the years yet had little to show for it when thoroughly assessed after project completion? It is even more alarming to learn that this government has already borrowed over $10 billion between 2017 and 2022 in addition to the state monies available to it when it took office in 2017. This amount is triple what we are currently requesting from the IMF. After securing the 3 billion dollar IMF bailout, this would raise the country's total debt to nearly 13 billion dollars.
The Covid-19 pandemic and Mr. Putin's munitions dropping in Ukraine have very little to do with our current fiscal difficulties. As opposed to Ghana, our motherland, the majority of African nations that suffered more fatalities and expended more money battling the Covid-19 outbreak had stable interest rates and inflation rates!
I firmly believe that the impending by-election in the Assin North constituency should be viewed by all minority parties in Ghana as a hero project designed to save and restore the honor of our existing parliament and our country by holding this current administration accountable.
The NDC candidate in the next by-election needs our support. In order to keep the hung parliament at 137/137, we must work hard. This will significantly slow down the government's insatiable appetite for unchecked borrowing. Giving the current government an absolute parliamentary majority will not only be a disaster because they have demonstrated that they are not willing to heed wise advice, but it will also be unfair and unjust to the people of Assin North if they are denied the ideal representation they deserve, as they so desired.The Ghanaian people did not choose a hang-parliamentary system in the 2020 elections for nothing. We must defend the qualities of the rule of law against all ploys and attempts to distort its precepts and principles.
Mr. Akane Adabengba Adams,(BA, MA, LLB)
Formal National Treasurer, PNC.
Source: graphic.com.gh
Very necessary
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