Redirect use of power of contempt-Law Lecturer
Ghana's Parliament needs to redirect its use of the power of contempt to
seek accountability from institutions and public officeholders, a law
lecturer, Mrs Clara Beeri Kasser-Tee, has said.
“I think that such power of contempt should be redirected to ensuring the achievement of the requirement of Article 103. That article allows Parliament to request information from the executive and public institution with respect to account, information or documents that they may need.
“I think that is where the power of contempt should be redirected. So that if Parliament makes a request and it is not complied with, the power of contempt should be exercised to ensure accountability rather than punish citizens for speaking or misspeaking” Mrs Kassa-Tee said.
Privileges committees
In recent times, personalities including musician Blak Rasta and the Chairman of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Pharmacovigilance, Professor Alex Dodoo, had to apologise before the privileges committees for comments deemed as an affront to Parliament.
However, Mrs Kasser-Tee said the practice undermined free speech, saying, “When citizens speak or misspeak, it is part of the excess that we have to accommodate in our democracy. If you don’t agree with the way people speak, it is something that the National Media Commission, media practitioners, public condemnation and civil law should deal with,” she said.
Forum
She was speaking at a public forum organised by the Centre for Social Democracy (CSD-Ghana), in partnership with the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana with support from Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
It was to critically examine the oversight function of Parliament within the context of promoting good governance, as well as key factors that hinder the effective performance of these functions. It was also to make recommendations on how Parliament could be more effective in promoting good governance.
Mrs Kasser-Tee said whatever people said about parliamentarians represented their views on them.
“Parliamentarians should be willing to educate people and not insulate themselves from what people are saying about them,” she said.
Ministers from Parliament
With the Constitution making it mandatory for the President to appoint majority of his ministers from Parliament, the law lecturer said Members of Parliament (MP) tended to do everything possible to stay in the good books of the executive so that they could be appointed.
That, she argued, prevented MPs from scrutinising the executive, saying: “Now if you go around criticising you would not be lobbying your way to be appointed. After you are appointed as a minister and you are a Member of Parliament, there is a conflict.”
“You are with the executive and yet you have parliamentary obligation. Naturally your loyalty to the executive would override your duty as a parliamentarian and you would keep your position since the President can fire you at any time as a minister,” she said.
With political commentators questioning the competencies of MPs with respect to scrutinising bills before they are passed, largely because of lack of research personnel to back their work, Mrs Kasser-Tee made a case for financing and resourcing the legislators to deliver on their mandate.
MPs secretariat
“Each parliamentarian should have a secretariat with a number of staff that will keep voting records of MPs in non- confidential votes. People deserve to know how their MPs have been voting, the arguments their MPs are making in public.
“That is representation because if you are representing the public, people should know,” she added.
I think there is a lot we need to do; I think that there is a lot Parliament can do. We should be able to hold parliamentarians and leaders to account. We build our institutions and decide what we want for our self. Sovereignty resides with the people,” she added.
Security policy
The former Minister of Defence, Dr Benjamin Kunbour, called for the introduction of a comprehensive policy on the security sector as the absence of such a policy made rules of engagement in the security sector lack the legitimacy and attention it deserved.
“If we have comprehensive policies on a number of issues, one of the policies that I have never sited in Parliament and I am sure no one has ever seen has been a comprehensive security sector policy. So if health, education and all other sectors need policies that are laid before Parliament to be debated, what makes a security sector policy an exception?” he queried.
He explained that the initiation of a comprehensive security policy would set out Ghana’s approach to security in terms of managing threats such as food security, terrorist threat, and natural disasters among others.
He also added that a security sector policy should be concerned with a strategic framework with guidelines that will lead to the achievement of certain objectives.
Among other things, Dr Benjamin indicated that, a security policy should be consistent with Ghana’s constitution, international humanitarian and human rights laws and standards.
“The policy should determine the kind of operations the security forces should embark on. The kinds of threat and risks the Ghanaian citizen needs to be protected from and the economic implications of such a policy on the tax payer,” he said.
Security illiteracy
Questioning the approach of the country to issues on security sector, the former Minister of Defence now Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana noted that the approach where issues on security are shrouded in secrecy and discussed in whispers did not auger well for the country.
This in a way had inhibited the power of the Parliamentary Committee to investigate and inquire into activities of ministries and departments within the security sector as stipulated under article 103 of the Constitution.
“The security sector is a unique institution. Security matters are discussed in whispers because there is a lot of security sector illiteracy in the country” he said.
“I have flipped through copies of the official reports of Parliament from 1993 and I have not come across any reference by a Speaker of Parliament to the committee requesting it to investigate or inquire into any matter pertaining to the security sector” he added.
“I think that such power of contempt should be redirected to ensuring the achievement of the requirement of Article 103. That article allows Parliament to request information from the executive and public institution with respect to account, information or documents that they may need.
“I think that is where the power of contempt should be redirected. So that if Parliament makes a request and it is not complied with, the power of contempt should be exercised to ensure accountability rather than punish citizens for speaking or misspeaking” Mrs Kassa-Tee said.
Privileges committees
In recent times, personalities including musician Blak Rasta and the Chairman of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Pharmacovigilance, Professor Alex Dodoo, had to apologise before the privileges committees for comments deemed as an affront to Parliament.
However, Mrs Kasser-Tee said the practice undermined free speech, saying, “When citizens speak or misspeak, it is part of the excess that we have to accommodate in our democracy. If you don’t agree with the way people speak, it is something that the National Media Commission, media practitioners, public condemnation and civil law should deal with,” she said.
Forum
She was speaking at a public forum organised by the Centre for Social Democracy (CSD-Ghana), in partnership with the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana with support from Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
It was to critically examine the oversight function of Parliament within the context of promoting good governance, as well as key factors that hinder the effective performance of these functions. It was also to make recommendations on how Parliament could be more effective in promoting good governance.
Mrs Kasser-Tee said whatever people said about parliamentarians represented their views on them.
“Parliamentarians should be willing to educate people and not insulate themselves from what people are saying about them,” she said.
Ministers from Parliament
With the Constitution making it mandatory for the President to appoint majority of his ministers from Parliament, the law lecturer said Members of Parliament (MP) tended to do everything possible to stay in the good books of the executive so that they could be appointed.
That, she argued, prevented MPs from scrutinising the executive, saying: “Now if you go around criticising you would not be lobbying your way to be appointed. After you are appointed as a minister and you are a Member of Parliament, there is a conflict.”
“You are with the executive and yet you have parliamentary obligation. Naturally your loyalty to the executive would override your duty as a parliamentarian and you would keep your position since the President can fire you at any time as a minister,” she said.
With political commentators questioning the competencies of MPs with respect to scrutinising bills before they are passed, largely because of lack of research personnel to back their work, Mrs Kasser-Tee made a case for financing and resourcing the legislators to deliver on their mandate.
MPs secretariat
“Each parliamentarian should have a secretariat with a number of staff that will keep voting records of MPs in non- confidential votes. People deserve to know how their MPs have been voting, the arguments their MPs are making in public.
“That is representation because if you are representing the public, people should know,” she added.
I think there is a lot we need to do; I think that there is a lot Parliament can do. We should be able to hold parliamentarians and leaders to account. We build our institutions and decide what we want for our self. Sovereignty resides with the people,” she added.
Security policy
The former Minister of Defence, Dr Benjamin Kunbour, called for the introduction of a comprehensive policy on the security sector as the absence of such a policy made rules of engagement in the security sector lack the legitimacy and attention it deserved.
“If we have comprehensive policies on a number of issues, one of the policies that I have never sited in Parliament and I am sure no one has ever seen has been a comprehensive security sector policy. So if health, education and all other sectors need policies that are laid before Parliament to be debated, what makes a security sector policy an exception?” he queried.
He explained that the initiation of a comprehensive security policy would set out Ghana’s approach to security in terms of managing threats such as food security, terrorist threat, and natural disasters among others.
He also added that a security sector policy should be concerned with a strategic framework with guidelines that will lead to the achievement of certain objectives.
Among other things, Dr Benjamin indicated that, a security policy should be consistent with Ghana’s constitution, international humanitarian and human rights laws and standards.
“The policy should determine the kind of operations the security forces should embark on. The kinds of threat and risks the Ghanaian citizen needs to be protected from and the economic implications of such a policy on the tax payer,” he said.
Security illiteracy
Questioning the approach of the country to issues on security sector, the former Minister of Defence now Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana noted that the approach where issues on security are shrouded in secrecy and discussed in whispers did not auger well for the country.
This in a way had inhibited the power of the Parliamentary Committee to investigate and inquire into activities of ministries and departments within the security sector as stipulated under article 103 of the Constitution.
“The security sector is a unique institution. Security matters are discussed in whispers because there is a lot of security sector illiteracy in the country” he said.
“I have flipped through copies of the official reports of Parliament from 1993 and I have not come across any reference by a Speaker of Parliament to the committee requesting it to investigate or inquire into any matter pertaining to the security sector” he added.
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