The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Sumani Bagbin, has cautioned African leaders to fear civil disobedience more than military coups.
“What we need to fear is not coups, but civil disobedience and uprising. When the people do not get what they want, they get fed up and they rise up. And when they rise up, you do not know whom they are coming to,” he said.
Justifying why Ghanaians do not need coup, Speaker Bagbin explained that the country had learnt a lot from coups, and that anytime there was one, the military suffered most of the casualties.
It is as a result of this that Alban Kingsford Bagbin is advocating for open governance where governments listened to those whose thumbs elected them. “It’s important we listen to the people who elected us. One mistake we make is that our democracy is not developing, because those we elected are assumed to know, and that is not the case, so [in] all the countries surrounding us there are explosions.”
Speaker Bagbin said this when he led a delegation of parliamentarians to call on the Paramount Chief of the Essikado Traditional Area, Nana Kobina Nketia V.
The Speaker used the visit to invite the Paramount Chief to the 30th celebration of Parliamentary Democracy in Ghana, which was being held in Takoradi.
Alban Kingsford Bagbin was accompanied by the Deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, Eric Afful, MP for Amenfi West, Joseph Cudjoe, MP for Effia, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah, MP for Takoradi amongst other legislators.
Speaker Bagbin seized the opportunity to express worry over the barring of traditional leaders from engaging in active politics, and called for a second look at that article as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution
“None of us politicians have wisdom than our Chief, Nana Kobina Nketia,” he said.
He did not understand why the constitution in one breath called for all inclusive government, and yet in another barred traditional leaders from contributing their knowledge and worth.
The Speaker also expressed worry over the minimal number of women elected into Parliament, as out of the 275 MPs, only 42 were women.
Nana Kobina Nketia, who accepted the Speaker’s invitation to be at the programme, expressed worry over some conducts in the House of Parliament.
He explained that, the business of the House needed to be taken serious, because Ghana’s sovereignty resided in no other arm of government than Parliament.
Awulae Angamatuo Gyan, Paramount Chief of Gwira, lauded Speaker Bagbin for effecting changes in the House.
He said: “As Africans, we have our way of life, and we must be known for that.”
Present at the Palace were Nana Kwesi Agyemang, Omanhene of Lower Dixcove, and Awulae Amihere Kpanyile.
