The Honourables

Most Ghanaians are not specially enamoured of their politicians - many accuse their MPs of doing little to improve their lives. MPs on the other hand claim they can only do so little and that people do not understand the limits of their powers.

The performance of MPs became a subject of heated public debate recently when legislators pushed for over 200 per cent adjustment in their salaries from about three thousand Ghana cedis to eight thousand Ghana cedis.

This as yet another damning assessment of their performance was published by a pan African magazine Africa watch.

The credibility of the grading has since been called into question by some senior editors and the MPs themselves but the damage had been done.

Sammy Darko explores these issues in this documentary. 

SCRIPT
[Sound up} MADAM SPEAKER….. a man shouts madam speaker to usher in the speaker of parliament onto the floor of the house]


CUE 1: PELPUO-1 (24 secs) deputy majority leader Rasheed Pelpuo speaks… I like to see people live in comfort and living out of poverty and out of the dangers of destructive life situations so in all my life I have devoted it to the service of people, I used to do so many things as a young person and I will do that when I get malaria I will be struggling to get many to cure myself after sleeping in villages and I love doing that and so I discovered that this is something I can carry to a higher level and that is how come I became a member of parliament


CUE 2: KYEI-1 (9 secs) Minority leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu speaks..Well I became a member of parliament because I wanted to be part of the movement to change the destiny of this country,


CUE 3:CONS-1 (38 secs) constituents speaks… initially we had lots of hope in him but after becoming an mp, there hasn’t been an improvement- look he had said nothing about the lack of potable water here in parliament…. Look you can hardly see or meet the mp- he is not available to even tell him your problems.


LINK: Most Ghanaians are not specially enamoured of their politicians - many accuse their MPs of doing little to improve their lives. MPs on the other hand claim they can only do so little and that people do not understand the limits of their powers.


The performance of MPs became a subject of heated public debate recently when legislators pushed for over two hundred per cent adjustment in their salaries from about three thousand Ghana cedis to eight thousand Ghana cedis. This as yet another damning assessment of their performance was published by a pan African magazine Africa watch.


The credibility of the grading has since been called into question by some senior editors and the MPs themselves but the damage had been done.


CUE4: {15Sound …A PLUS A LETTER TO THE WEST sings about poverty in Africa despite huge natural resources}


Politicians in Ghana are not different from politicians across the world –and like elsewhere, Ghanaians have little respect for their MPs. Most are convinced that politicians are a venal bunch only interested in feathering their pockets rather than seeing to the well-being of their voters.


CUES5: fade after seven secs and keep under link until Ghana


Under the fourth republican constitution of Ghana, MPs have three fundamental roles- to pass legislation, exercise oversight over the use of public funds by the executive and represent the interest of their constituents.


Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu is the leader of the largest opposition party in parliament, the new patriotic party. He says MPs are not development agents.


CUE6: KYEI-2 47secs whiles canvassing for votes, some people promise development in exchange for votes….. clearly this is a complete misconception.


Perhaps this attitude explains the disconnect between politicians and their constituents….because just as democratically elected politicians are ‘by the people and for the people, they are expected to improve the lot of those who voted for them. MPs are seen as development agents as well stresses Dr. Rasheed Draman, the director of Africa programmes at the Canadian Parliamentary Centre.


CUE 7: DRAMAN(36 secs) and let me tell you why……research we have done shows more and more constituents…….Mps are seen in terms of what they do than the laws they pass.






The AFRO barometre is a cross national survey by think tanks in 20 African countries which focuses primarily on good governance. The 2008 report on proportional representation and popular assessment of the performance of MPs in 12 countries including Ghana makes for an interesting read.






In all the countries except South Africa, representing constituents is considered to be the main task of MPs, followed by delivering jobs or development. Only 16 percent said legislation should be the top priority of MPs.






There was public outrage earlier this year when MPs asked for a whopping 5000 cedi per month increase in their salaries. There was even talk about linking salaries to performance.


MPs seemed to be taken aback by the public anger. They argued they needed the pay rise because demands from constituents were creating holes in their pockets. Accra based lawyer and MPP for Abuakwa South constituency in eastern region of Ghana Samuel Atta Akyea describe such sentiments as cruel.


CUE 8: AKYEA (1. 28) the mp can use his common fund and buy 20 bags of cement……I even buiy coffins…unfortunately they don’t have the money to do it


Sound up: AMBIENCE fade after 3 secs


LINK: But in Atta Akyea’s constituency, residents paint a different picture. Galamsay or illegal mining is the economic mainstay in this rich forest belt….because of the chronic unemployment in the region. This has led to widespread water pollution and the lack of potable water is a huge issue here.


CUE 9: CONS (59secs) {– 3 voices, 15 to 20 secs max per person….we don’t see the mp here}


Link: But the MP has to be visible, and accessible says Kodjo Assante of the Centre for democratic development, CDD. He says constituents vote for MPs because they need development.


Cue 10: DESK (31sec we have to be fair to people that at the end bread and butter issues are the most important thing…. So whether it is delivered by you or somebody is whether it has been delivered


sound up-KILL BILL…sound trackclassical break –battle without honour…….fade under link






LINK: The issue of MPs clamouring for higher salaries generated heated controversy in Kenya as well. There the justification was that only with a pay hike could they meet the demands from their constituents. And despite public anger, Kenyan MPs voted themselves a 25 percent increase in salary – amounting to more than 12,000 dollars a month making them amongst the highest-paid legislators in the world, even more than many of their European counterparts. The discrepancy between the MPs and those they represent is dramatic.


Firoze Manji is the editor of the pan African news site Pambazuka.


CUE 11: FIROZE-1 (48 secs)Over the last thirty years, ….because they feel the pain that their citizens feel….


But greedy MPs and public disenchantment with elected representatives is not restricted to Africa. In 2009, MPs expenses became a huge scandal in Britain.


CUE 12: 20 secs{Sound over- mps quizzed in British parliament


The United Kingdom parliamentary scandal was triggered by leaked and subsequent publication of flagrant and gross misuse and abuse of permitted allowances and expenses. Mps were also accused of pushing for legislation at the behest of the corporate sector and multinationals. According to Firoze Manji, MPs are not really calling the shots……


CUE 13: FIROZE (34 secs) The real problem is they don’t have power…..they don’t have the power constitutionally.”


Use link music






Here in Ghana, a real test case was the 2008 approval of the sale of the then only national telecommunications network Ghana telecom to British Vodafone. P C Appiah Ofori, MP for Asikuma Odobeng Brakwa accused members of his own party then in power of taking five thousand dollar bribe each before voting in favour of the sale.






CUE 14: APPIAH {30secs} unless…. No hope for the country


Despite these allegations, deputy majority leader, Rasheed Pelpuo, believes such cases are few and far between.


CUE 15: PELPUO-2 {26secs} the truth is that Ghana’s parliament doesn’t have those kind of MPs…..but we can’t rule it out.


The performance of the 230 member legislature has not been called into question only here in Ghana but outside as well. The African parliamentary index measures how efficiently African parliaments exercise their oversight role over expenditure by the executive. Ghana’s legislature came last in the assessment of seven countries published earlier this year.


However, the responsibility for development projects lies with the head of local authorities…even if national policy is set by parliament and the government. MPs would be spending their time better if they paid more attention to the details of the policies they promulgate, stresses Kojo Assante of the Centre for democratic development, instead of going around cap in hand looking for development aid.


CUE 16:KOJO (44 secs) so there is a distortion of the role….they asked the MP what did you bring.”


Dr. Rasheed Draman, director of Africa programmes at Canadian parliamentary centre disagrees. The post of a district chief executive is often a stepping stone towards becoming an MP.


CUE 17: DRAMAN-1( 46 secs) one senior MP in Ghana told me if you are not lucky and the district chief executive is not on your side…..you can never run for parliament.”






Parliament works through standing and special committees which may make inquiries, launch investigations, issue statements and table parliamentary questions to examine proposals from the executive. However, MPs are often accused of failing in executing such tasks. Atta Akyea and Kyei Mensah Bonsu share their thoughts……


CUE 18 AKYEA-148 secs) the sheer fact that somebody is very vocal on the floor… I can assure you that some people in NDC as back benchers they have not shared one word.


CUE 19: KYEI-3(55 secs) In our constitution our president appoints ministers…… allow him to go….






Many people think that no matter how poorly an MP performs, he or she is sure to return to parliament for a second term because of political allegiances and party affiliations. Kojo Asante of CDD says people are not that gullible.


CUE 20: KOJO-1(48 secs) the real test is in the internal battle, the primaries because there again you are subjected to democratic sanction…


Song a plus….find relevant verse






LINK: J H Mensah is the grand old man of Ghanaian politics – a former finance minister and three-time MP for Sunyani East. The 83 year old veteran politican has this message for this generation of Ghana’s elected representatives….the honourables of the 21st century….


CUE 21:JH-2 (1.10) it is the duty of the executive to make available resource and is for parliament to ensure equitable and efficient distribution of the resource


Sound up- a plus songs…….


At the end of the day, the issue is really quite simple…. Politicians are elected to serve the people……the voters who elected them….and not the other way around.


I am Sammy Darko .


Sound up- a plus song fades followed by hotline sig tune.