• About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
Monday, August 4, 2025
  • Login
The Vaultz News
  • Top Stories
  • News
    • General News
    • Education
    • Health
    • Opinions
  • Economics
    • Economy
    • Finance
      • Banking
      • Insurance
      • Pension
    • Securities/Markets
  • Business
    • Agribusiness
    • Vaultz Business
    • Extractives/Energy
    • Real Estate
  • World
    • Africa
    • America
    • Europe
    • UK
    • USA
    • Asia
    • Around the Globe
  • Innovation
    • Technology
    • Wheels
  • Entertainment
  • 20MOBPL2DNew
  • Jobs & Scholarships
    • Job Vacancies
    • Scholarships
No Result
View All Result
The Vaultz News
  • Top Stories
  • News
    • General News
    • Education
    • Health
    • Opinions
  • Economics
    • Economy
    • Finance
      • Banking
      • Insurance
      • Pension
    • Securities/Markets
  • Business
    • Agribusiness
    • Vaultz Business
    • Extractives/Energy
    • Real Estate
  • World
    • Africa
    • America
    • Europe
    • UK
    • USA
    • Asia
    • Around the Globe
  • Innovation
    • Technology
    • Wheels
  • Entertainment
  • 20MOBPL2DNew
  • Jobs & Scholarships
    • Job Vacancies
    • Scholarships
No Result
View All Result
The Vaultz News
No Result
View All Result

Protecting democracy with a ‘broken’ parliament

January 7, 2021
Stephen M.Cby Stephen M.C
in Economy_Null (x), One Top Story, Top Stories
0
Protecting democracy with a broken parliament

The Parliament of Ghana

History was made in 2009, when the former President of the United States of America, President Barack Obama visited Ghana, and delivered one of the most outstanding speeches in the then 5th parliament of the Republic of Ghana. History is being made 12 years afterwards in 2021, but for the wrong reasons.

On July 11, 2009, during his visit to Ghana, former President Barack Obama said that: “Africa doesn’t need strong men, it needs strong institutions.” He also added that, “You have the power to hold your leaders accountable, and to build institutions that serve the people.”

Quite unfortunately, these statements can only be found in the annals of history and in public archives only, but not truly exemplified in the house of parliament where they were first uttered.

RelatedPosts

Ghana’s GH₵525bn Financial Sector Faces Hidden Risk from Securities Industry

24-Hour Economy Gains Momentum: Deloitte Tips Ghana to Hit 2025 GDP Milestone

GSE Storms Into August With Blazing Returns, Market Cap Hits Historic High

Whilst it would be in place to blame parliament for failing to preserve the sanctity of our democracy, we, the citizens are also culpable of same when we have not adequately been up to speed with holding our leaders accountable in building a strong parliament.

The unexpected happened throughout a ten hour ordeal for the election of a Speaker for the 8th Parliament of the Republic, where quite a number of MPs publicly displayed unconstitutional acts (from brawls among themselves, kicking of ballot boxes and snatching of ballot sheets) in contravention of the constitution they had pledged to protect and defend.

alban bagbin
Hon. Alban Bagbin, Speaker of the 8th Parliament of Ghana

Meanwhile, the country had just come out of a general election in about exactly a month, which outcome saw similar incidents of fights and the snatching of ballot boxes. The only difference between the two remains the unfortunate instances of death recorded during the elections.

This, therefore, brings to question whether this newly constituted parliament— a hung parliament, is what we have ever wanted to shape our democracy when it has woefully failed from the onset.

Dr. Camara Obeng had once warned that: “We should do politics of issues and not politics of type and traditions- Once I am an NPP or NDC, anything coming from my party I support it but anything from the opposing party I must kick against. That kind of politics doesn’t help.”

He also made the point that, the fundamental issue that needs to be addressed as a nation is the caliber of people who are being voted for as Members of Parliament (MPs)- “the quality of people who are going into parliament, do they have what it takes? This is what we have not dealt with as a country,” he stressed.

By the display of these unpopularly ‘historic’ actions today, would it be in place for citizens to become skeptical about whether the decisions which are to be taken in parliament would be in the interest of the people or on the basis of party-politics?

This notwithstanding, on the other side of the coin, we, the citizens have for the most part, had a good laugh about the whole issue and are more likely to forget in a few days.

After all, either intentionally or unintentionally, we have been described as easily forgetful of issues when they happen— we make a big fuss over issues only for a moment, and then voila! Everything is reset to normal, like nothing never happened.

Simply, we have not held our leaders accountable for their actions and so, it may not be the last time this will happen in the 8th parliament for the next four years. We need to be ready to hold the fort of our democracy when our institutions are failing us.

What we can therefore do in this direction, is the need for a better informed citizenry and one that is more concerned and not passive in the affairs of parliament than previously.

The press must be actively involved for this to happen. Considerably, how the citizenry is informed on parliamentary proceedings and affairs and the depth of discussions held on parliamentary issues should be well crafted to foster critique from citizenry.

Also, the practice of endorsing or dismissing an idea merely because it is from a particular MP belonging to a political party one does not favour is a way of avoiding the hard work of citizenship, which requires thorough analysis of the relative merits of an idea or proposal.

Political labeling that is widespread, gives way for MPs who know that they can just say anything to woo or win an audience who are not insistent on the right but have the traditional ideology of party-politics.

President Obama was right 12 years ago when he said, the power lies in the people to build strong institutions, and he is right even now.

Tags: ConstitutiondemocracyInstitutionsParliament
Please login to join discussion
Previous Post

Elon Musk overtakes Bezos to become world’s richest person

Next Post

AfCFTA to unlock Africa’s Natural Resources – President Akufo-Addo

[mc4wp_form id="1264"]

Related Posts

Fixing the Farmgate to Protect Cocoa’s Future: Farmers Deserve Fairer Price
Opinions

Fixing the Farmgate to Protect Cocoa’s Future: Farmers Deserve Fairer Price

August 4, 2025
Ewoyaa Project: Atlantic Lithium Limited
Extractives/Energy

Atlantic Lithium Reports A$5.4M Cash Reserve as Ewoyaa Project Advances 

August 4, 2025
Power Without End, Africa’s Quiet Constitutional Coups
Africa

Power Without End, Africa’s Quiet Constitutional Coups

August 4, 2025
Bright Simons, Manufacturing, Quality
General News

Nutrifoods Recall Raises Concern Over Manufacturing Standards

August 4, 2025
Stock Market Set for Explosive Growth Following Rate Cut to 25%, Says Analyst
Securities/Markets

Stock Market Set for Explosive Growth Following Rate Cut to 25%, Says Analyst

August 4, 2025
South Korea Appoints New Acting Leader
Asia

South Korea Persists In Quest To Ease Tensions With North Korea

August 4, 2025
Fixing the Farmgate to Protect Cocoa’s Future: Farmers Deserve Fairer Price
Opinions

Fixing the Farmgate to Protect Cocoa’s Future: Farmers Deserve Fairer Price

by Stephen M.CAugust 4, 2025
Ewoyaa Project: Atlantic Lithium Limited
Extractives/Energy

Atlantic Lithium Reports A$5.4M Cash Reserve as Ewoyaa Project Advances 

by Prince AgyapongAugust 4, 2025
Power Without End, Africa’s Quiet Constitutional Coups
Africa

Power Without End, Africa’s Quiet Constitutional Coups

by Lawrence AnkutseAugust 4, 2025
Bright Simons, Manufacturing, Quality
General News

Nutrifoods Recall Raises Concern Over Manufacturing Standards

by Silas Kafui AssemAugust 4, 2025
Stock Market Set for Explosive Growth Following Rate Cut to 25%, Says Analyst
Securities/Markets

Stock Market Set for Explosive Growth Following Rate Cut to 25%, Says Analyst

by Stephen M.CAugust 4, 2025
South Korea Appoints New Acting Leader
Asia

South Korea Persists In Quest To Ease Tensions With North Korea

by Comfort AmpomaaAugust 4, 2025
Fixing the Farmgate to Protect Cocoa’s Future: Farmers Deserve Fairer Price
Ewoyaa Project: Atlantic Lithium Limited
Power Without End, Africa’s Quiet Constitutional Coups
Bright Simons, Manufacturing, Quality
Stock Market Set for Explosive Growth Following Rate Cut to 25%, Says Analyst
South Korea Appoints New Acting Leader
[/vc_row_inner]

Recent News

  • Fixing the Farmgate to Protect Cocoa’s Future: Farmers Deserve Fairer Price
  • Atlantic Lithium Reports A$5.4M Cash Reserve as Ewoyaa Project Advances 
  • Power Without End, Africa’s Quiet Constitutional Coups
  • Nutrifoods Recall Raises Concern Over Manufacturing Standards
  • Stock Market Set for Explosive Growth Following Rate Cut to 25%, Says Analyst
The Vaultz News

Copyright © 2021 The Vaultz News. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Top Stories
  • News
    • General News
    • Education
    • Health
    • Opinions
  • Economics
    • Economy
    • Finance
      • Banking
      • Insurance
      • Pension
    • Securities/Markets
  • Business
    • Agribusiness
    • Vaultz Business
    • Extractives/Energy
    • Real Estate
  • World
    • Africa
    • America
    • Europe
    • UK
    • USA
    • Asia
    • Around the Globe
  • Innovation
    • Technology
    • Wheels
  • Entertainment
  • 20MOBPL2D
  • Jobs & Scholarships
    • Job Vacancies
    • Scholarships

Copyright © 2021 The Vaultz News. All rights reserved.