HOUSE TO INITIATE DEBATE ON AMENDMENTS (PAGE 31)

Story: Kwame Asiedu Marfo, Takoradi

Parliament plans to provoke a national debate on the necessary constitutional reforms to deepen and entrench the country’s democracy.
The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader, Mr Abraham Ossei-Aidoo, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic after the opening of a one-day workshop in Takoradi for Members of Parliament (MPs) and metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) from the Western and Central regions.
He said the debate would cover areas such as the number of Supreme Court judges, the fusion of Executive and Legislative positions, the legislative powers of Parliament, as well as the nature of the relationship between MPs and MMDCEs.
Opening the workshop, which was on the theme, “Effective Co-operation”, Mr Ossei-Aidoo said the prevailing situation of increasing hostilities, mutual suspicion and lack of co-operation between MPs and chief executives had been a source of grave concern to all well-meaning Ghanaians because of the enormous challenges it posed to the country’s democratic dispensation.
He said for the past two years his ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, had organised workshops in five regions aimed at finding solutions to the tension and apparent mistrust between MPs and MMDCEs,” he said.
Mr Ossei-Aidoo said the workshop in Takoradi was to provide the two key governance actors a single platform to dispassionately discuss the problem and collectively identify the way forward.
He said the major functions of MMDCEs, as provided for in the Local Government Act, (462), essentially made them the chief representatives of the government in the metropolises, municipalities and districts and also responsible for the day-to-day running of the assemblies.
The MMDCEs, he explained, were thus entrusted with enormous powers which must be exercised with a great deal of circumspection.
He said MPs on the other hand, were elected representatives of their constituents in the national legislature and that by virtue of Section 5 (1) (c) of the Local Government Act, MPs were ex-officio members of the district assemblies in whose their jurisdiction fell.
“The provision does not only position the MP as a link between the assembly and Parliament but also affords him or her the opportunity to understand the problems of his or her constituents so that he or she can effectively play his or her advocacy role in Parliament on their behalf,” he explained.
Apart from that, he said the MP, being a national figure, equally played a crucial role in the development of the country, saying, “Thus, in one breath he can champion the aspirations of his constituents, his or her district and the nation at large. The MP and the DCE are thus partners in development.”
The Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund, Mr Joshua Magnus Nicol, noted that the monitoring and evaluation, as well as purchasing, aspects of the fund were creating a problem between MPs and MMDCEs.
He said now MPs could source their share of the fund directly from the Office of the Administrator of the common fund.
Mr Nicol also said his office would have discussions with the Procurement Board on whether MPs could purchase items for their projects by themselves.
The Western Regional Minister, Mr A.E. Amoah. said it was important for MPs and MMDCEs to come together and look at things that would move them forward, adding, “The management of part of a state is team work.”
“It is the unified hope that we are thinking about. No part of the whole is greater than the whole,” he emphasised, adding, “Let us use this opportunity to remind ourselves of the task ahead of us, that we may be in a position to play the role we are expected to play.”