The flag bearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has said Ghana’s governance is in crisis, expressing the need for a reset.
He was citing the recent happening in Parliament which nearly led to a fight between legislators belonging to the NDC and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He says the declaration of the four seats in the House vacant due to the switching of allegiance by their occupants in the next Parliament, with its associated verdict by the Supreme Court on the Speaker’s ruling necessitates a reset to put Ghana’s governance in a better perspective.
Highlighting the development, the former President said what is happening exhibits the deepening crisis in the country’s political landscape.
Speaking at the 80th anniversary celebration of the St. Joseph the Worker Anglican Church in Accra Sunday, October 27, 2024, John Mahama noted that the Supreme Court’s verdict to stay the ruling of the Speaker leading to the indefinite adjournment of Parliament is a cause for concern.
He lauded the Speaker’s matured handling of the issue preventing a possible fisticuffs in the House that would have further sunk the goodwill of Ghana’s democracy.
He said the situation warrants a revisit of Ghana’s constitution to prevent such controversies that could potentially distort the nation’s democracy.
“Recently, you saw what happened in parliament. We almost had a constitutional crisis. But for the mature handling of the Speaker in suspending the House, there could have been a clash between the judiciary and our Parliament. And so our [sic] government is in crisis.
“We need to reset, we need to restart, we need to look at our constitution again, we need to revise it and plug the loopholes and make it clearer so that in future we don’t have the kinds of issues that we have. Our attitudes are in crisis,” he stated.
Mahama’s comments follow a ruling by the Speaker of Parliament Thursday, October 17, 2024, where some four seats were declared vacant. The declaration, subsequently reduced the membership of the governing NPP, who were then Majority to 135, with the opposition NDC, who were the Minority, remaining with 136 members to assume the Majority position.
The ruling, which was sent to court by the leader of the NPP MPs, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, was stayed by the Supreme Court bringing controversy as to who is now Majority and Minority in the House.
After failing to attain quorum at sitting on Tuesday, October 22, the House was adjourned indefinitely by the Speaker.
Meanwhile, the NPP Members in Parliament have initiated processes for the House to be recalled. A citizen, has also gone to court to stop the Speaker from recalling the House.
