Bright Simons, a seasoned policy analyst and the Honorary Vice President of the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education has touted the achievements of Ghana’s Eighth Parliament, highlighting its effects on governance and civil society advocacy.
The renowned civil society leader, in a compelling analysis, praised the pivotal role played by Ghana’s 8th Parliament in curbing government overreach, while raising serious concerns about the accountability dynamics under the incoming 9th Parliament.
Bright Simons reflected on the optimism he felt after Ghana’s 2020 parliamentary elections, which resulted in an unprecedented stalemate, with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) each securing an equal number of seats.
“Ghana’s last elections delivered a virtually deadlocked Parliament, with both major parties winning an equal number of seats. I couldn’t hide my joy. I wrote the essay below full of glee. The preceding four years had been bad for Civil Society (CSO) efforts to stop bad policies. Really bad”.
Bright Simons, Honorary Vice President of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education
The Agyapa Deal and Civil Society’s Struggles
Bright Simons pointed to the Agyapa Royalties deal as a glaring example of the dangers posed by unchecked parliamentary power during the country’s 7th Parliament.
This contentious arrangement aimed to monetize Ghana’s future gold royalties by listing them on an overseas stock exchange, a plan that critics, including Bright Simons, criticized for undervaluing state assets by selling them for less than 40% of their nominal worth.
He stressed that the manner in which the Agyapa deal was pushed through Parliament during the 7th Parliament illustrated the formidable obstacles activists faced in holding the government accountable.
For Bright Simons, the 8th Parliament’s evenly split composition served as an important “buffer” against unchecked executive power.
Although he acknowledged that this divided Parliament did not fulfil all the hopes of activists, he affirmed that its oversight function was “far better than nothing.”
He expressed particular admiration for Speaker Alban Sumana Bagbin and the leader of the NDC Caucus in Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, commending their steadfastness and resistance to “subtle and not-so-subtle pressure.”
Their efforts, he noted, gave the 8th Parliament a “semblance of real seriousness” in scrutinizing government actions. “Few feats are hailed by trumpets,” Bright Simons remarked, underscoring the often unacknowledged nature of civil society work and parliamentary oversight.
Looking to the future, the IMANI’s Honorary Vice President expressed deep concern about the prospects for accountability under the 9th Parliament, which is expected to lack the balance of its predecessor.
Without the checks and balances provided by a deadlocked legislature, he cautioned that the ability to rein in executive overreach could be significantly weakened.
“The incoming Parliament will have none of these buffers. We are filled with apprehension about what that means for accountability,” he warned, urging Ghanaian activists to innovate and find new strategies to address the upcoming challenges.
The critical question, Bright Simons posited, is whether Ghana’s activists and civil society organizations can adapt and meet the challenge of ensuring accountability in a potentially more centralized and less constrained political environment.
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