These acts of Gross Irresponsibility

It sounded so unbelievable when the news first broke that two of our parliamentarians and some staff members of the House had tested positive to the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19), and have refused to isolate themselves and go through the healing process.

Of course, I took it as one of those social-media pranks and decided to go to sleep over the matter. How can honourable persons just decide to act so irresponsibly like that?

Then I was awoken from sleep with the loud confirmation that, indeed, the number of members of Parliament (MPs) who tested positive was now more than two, and that they had not only refused to be isolated, but gone ahead to mingle freely with their colleagues, and interacting with them without adhering to the laid down safety protocols.

I just could not believe this gross act of irresponsibility. Because, here we have an assembly of people from 275 political provinces in the country, and with two or more infected persons not keeping away from the House of Parliament, it will take only a matter of time for all the other members to be infected.

Here comes, disaster. Each MP will go to his or her constituency and meet with the traditional leaders, religious leaders, youth, women associations, market women and traders, and, of course, party leadership and activists.

Now let us start the calculations: The President said there should be not more than a hundred people in any gathering, so in the worst case scenario, let put the figure at twenty-five per meeting, and we have six groups here; meaning we have 150 people interacting with the MPs who will most likely be infected by him or her, and we have not yet included family and friends. Now let us hope the virus does not spread so we have 150 new cases for every 275 constituencies, and we will be talking about 41,250 fresh cases. 41,250 cases, plus the figures of 11,118 we had on hand as at 7 am on Sunday June 14, 2020. That will be 52,368, and that could place us second in Africa if Egypt does not increase above 9,000 new cases.

Can anyone tell these Covid-19 positive MPs what this will do to this nation? Wait a minute, as at the time of writing this feature at 1 pm on Sunday June 14, 2020, the Covid-19 Visualiserhas given us new data on Ghana. We now have a total of 11,422 confirmed cases, made up of 7,215 active ones, 51 deceased and 4,156 recovered cases. In this, with the result of the irresponsible conduct of the MPs, we shall have on hand 52,672 confirmed cases, all things being equal.

Seriously, do the infected MPs know what Parliament House stands for? Are they aware that it is mandatory for all members of the House to obey laws and protect others? I am not interested in how they acquired the virus, but once they knew they have it, no one should tell them what to do to protect others.

In any case, whenever they visit their constituents, what instructions do they give to them on the Covid-19 and the safety protocols?

What is amazing is that we hear concerns from the Speaker of the House about how sometimes they never form any quorum to discuss or debate very important issues. Meaning, some MPs just went Absent Without Leave (AWOL), so why could these infected MPs not take official AWOL and protect the lives of others?

With this kind of conduct, the ever pressing and irritating question is raised again, and it is, what calibre of MPs do we have in the House? Hon O.B. Amoah has debated Hon Fitz Bafour on this matter before – on what criteria should be used in selecting MPs. And today, this debate can be reopened, because how can an MP just violate this very important protocol, and yet go to his or her constituency and preach to people about the Covid-19?

It will also call to question the educational background and academic testimonial records of the MP. In social conduct, which usually does not appear on records, one may ask, whether those MPs were law-abiding.

The problem we have is that in any party’s stronghold, all that matters is for any member of that party to win the primary and long before the elections the title honourable will be conferred on him.

So there are instances where due to certain going-ons in the party, the gurus will choose someone to spite others, and if, unfortunately, that person is not up there, we shall have problems in the House. Most of the campaigns are conducted in the local dialect and so there will be no examination on the candidate’s command over the English language. He wins the seat and is found in Parliament, and so will be at sea when high issues are discussed.

It is the duty and responsibility of all political parties to pick and choose the right candidates with broad knowledge in English and other subjects, and above all, good conduct, to become their candidates. And it is for the electorate to scrutinise and pick out from the pack, irrespective of one’s party affiliation, the one who can best address issues in the House for the good of the constituency and the country.

All said, it is mandatory of Parliament to come out with the names of the infected MPs and staff of the House. It will help us all a lot, since we will protect ourselves if any of them resides in our neighbourhoods.

If the leadership of the House refuses to mention the names, then it must accept blame for aiding and abetting acts of gross irresponsibility.

The next act of gross irresponsibility is about people like Franklin Cudjoe calling for the boycott of the compilation of the new voters’ register, assuming the Supreme Court comes out with a verdict in favour of the Electoral Commission.

I will not get into the matters in the court, but rather put this question to Franklin. What does he want to gain if people refuse to go and register as voters? What formed the basis of this call for the boycott?

If he is talking about the health risks involved, then, as a member of a national think-tank, he should come out with suggestions and not call for a boycott. This is an act of gross irresponsibility, because with this Covid-19 around, the EC has come out to say that during the registration, things will be put in place to make sure that all safety protocol laws are observed to the letter.

Here, what should concern us is that during the General Elections how can the safety protocol laws be observed to the letter? We should bear in mind that more people will assemble that day to cast their votes in a single day, than will gather to register, since the registration will not take place in a day.

Now, if Franklin Cudjoe is calling for the boycott of the registration, why does he not call for the total boycott of the General Elections? That would be more principled and responsible.

We have a Constitution which has lived with us for almost twenty-eight years, and we are not taking our time to debate this whole law and either amend it, or completely come out with a newly well-documented and rich Fifth Republican Constitution.

In the first place, the 1992 Constitution was written to serve the purpose of a single individual, and that was Jerry Rawlings. Now, it was largely praise singers and people whose standards could not enter into the scope of coming out with a constitution, who formed the majority of the assembly that drafted the 1992 Constitution. During the first four years of its existence, then President Rawlings had it amended, because, to him, it was too dangerous putting the state security under the Vice-President.

Other amendments followed, but what we have on hand right now is, what will happen if the fears Franklin Cudjoe is entertaining aggravates, come December 7, 2020, meaning the Covid-19 situation will, God forbid, increase by that time than now.

So we will have no elections, and come January 7, 2021, the President, his Vice, and ministers are to vacate their posts as mandated by the Constitution. Ordinarily, the Speaker of Parliament should take over, but, here too, the House has been dissolved as directed by the Constitution, so there will be no Parliament, and, therefore, no Speaker.

The next person mandated by Law to take over is the Chief Justice, and here his mandate will last for only three months, during which he is to conduct elections. Now, what if conditions do not improve at that time?

We expect Franklin Cudjoe to come out and help us answer such questions posed above, and not to organise a mass demonstration and boycott of a less risky operation like the registration of voters.

People travel on buses under these conditions; people go to the markets, and now people are worshiping in churches and mosques; people are attending funerals and weddings and what have you. In all these safety protocols are observed, and the EC has promised us that these laws will be respected at all times.

So what is the difference here between all the above and the registering for new voters’ ID card? Franklin Cudjoe must not conduct an act of gross irresponsibility by calling for a mass boycott when there is no need.

Hon Daniel Dugan

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s editorial stance.

 

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