My Jewish people will say in Hebrew, “Eynkolchadashtachathashemesh” and this is one of the Biblical quotations which has formed part of everyday speech. It means “there is nothing new under the sun.”
A popular Scripture verse in which this statement can be found is in the book of Ecclesiastes 1:9, which states, “That which has been, is what shall be; and that which has been done is what shall be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.”
Lately in the political arena in Ghana, two things have taken place, which until they occurred, only a few people thought there were only occurring for the first time in this fourth republic.
These two occurrences, first, MPs of a ruling government demanding the sacking of a finance minister and MPs in the minority coming out with a censure motion against a finance minister.
First NPP MPs in Parliament, about eighty, at a press conference demanded that H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo must immediately dismiss finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and minister of state in the finance ministry, or they will not partake in government business in the House.
Then the minority MPs in Parliament made up of members of the NDC, came out to indicate that they were going to pass a censure motion on Ken Ofori-Atta.
Censure? And what is the meaning of this word? Well, this is Ghana, where in most cases those in political offices come out with strange words which were not strange after all. In the seventies, Gen Acheampong came with the word,conspiracy.
And with it people were charged with the conspiracy to do something and also charged with doing that thing. So, if people gathered together and decided to steal, that would mean, they conspired to steal and that was a punishable offence.
And once they were caught in the act of stealing, they get charged first of conspiring to steal and then charged of stealing. You cannot just get up to go and steal, you must first think about the act of stealing or desiring to steal, and in our law books, that is very criminal.
In this Fourth Republic, the political office holders have come out with another word and it is called censure. But what is it? A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism.
In parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by majority vote. It becomes a strong rebuke by the legislature. In brief, censure is a warning and some common synonyms are condemn, criticize, denounce, reprehend and reprobate.
The minority NDC also came out publicly to express strong disapproval of the finance minister and hoped that would lead to his dismissal from office.
These two events have happened before in this Fourth Republic. In November 1999, the minority, NPP MPs in Parliament, filed a censure motion calling to question, the competence of finance minister, Kwame Peprah, with his mismanagement of the economy.
Unfortunately, the majority NDC MPs made sure that the motion was not successful. What is very interesting is that, the first censure motion filed in the Fourth Republic, was filed on November 10, 1999 and the second was also filed on November 10, 2022.
“Eynkolchadashtachathashemesh,” the Jews will say, or in English, “there is nothing new under the sun.”
There was this called by MPs from the ruling NPP, on President Akufo-Addo to get rid of his finance minister. Somewhere in 2014, two years to General Elections, some key NDC MPs who were in the majority in Parliament, called on the then president, H.E. John Mahama, to dismiss his finance minister, Seth Terkper, from office. He was accused of being very incompetent in the management of the country’s finances and economy.
Not only that, even ministers of state expressed great concern about Terkper’s incompetence and arrogance. In April 2014, the Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mahama Ayariga, stated that the forthrightness of Mr. Tekper on the state of the economy was worrying, adding that the situation was making it difficult for communicators to defend government on matters of the economy.
What saved Seth Terkper from falling in shame from grace to disgrace, was that the then president, H.E. John Mahama, decided not to sack him. Terkper was able to complete a full term as minister.
As it happened in the past, when majority MPs in Parliament and also from the ruling government called for the dismissal of their finance minister and minority MPs passed a censure motion on a finance minister, it is happening today.
However, something is about to change. This time, the president in charge of affairs has decided that he will change the finance minister and the minister of state of finance.
This president, seems to have a listening ear and will want to do what the people, through the MPs want. Two years to Elections 2016, President John Mahama was asked to sack his finance minister. He refused and NDC lost the elections.
Two years to Elections 2024, President Nana Akufo-Addo has being asked to sack his finance minister and he promised to do so. Maybe something new will happen under the sun in Ghana. NPP could possibly Break the Eight and Nana Addo would be the first president to hand over to a president-elect from his own party.
