It is getting to be ever more ridiculous in Ghana’s National Assembly these days. Then again, hasn’t it always been ridiculous? What with indefinitely boycotting opposition parliamentarians being guaranteed their fat paychecks, even as they deliberately sabotaged daily proceedings verging on critical issues of national development? In essence, and this is rather curious to observe, deliberately regressing the development of our dear country is quite a lucrative enterprise these days; which is not to say that such anomaly was ever what we perceive it to be, an anomaly, rather than the virtual cultural norm of the parliamentary opposition, regardless of party or ideological affiliation.
And so, perhaps, it is necessary to enact stringent rules regarding this aspect of avoidable and patently unconscionable frittering away of the people’s hard-earned monetary resources.
And, indeed, it is for the preceding reasons that yours truly was not in the least surprised, if also neither in the least amused, when it recently came to light that Mr. Daniel Abodakpi, the legitimately convicted and jailed National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament (NDC-MP) for Keta, in the Volta Region, is still drawing a salary from public funds” (Daily Guide 7/21/07).
We wish that the preceding were a gross reportage, or misrepresentation of the facts, otherwise it would be tantamount to a flagrant and treasonable attempt by the parliamentary paymaster to both bilk as well as undermine our august judicial process and system. Needless to say, it would also be tantamount to causing deliberate and considerable loss to the Ghanaian taxpayer, as well as the very sovereignty of our country itself. Consequently, we are hereby calling on Parliament and the Kufuor Administration to investigate this matter and promptly ensure the immediate return of any sums of money illegally deposited into the bank account of Mr. Abodakpi or his proxies. For, as aforementioned, this kind of activity breaches the legitimacy of our judicial system, as to almost make it appear as if the court of criminal conviction is somehow, and curiously, apologizing for duly and legitimately penalizing our subject of discussion.
On another level, this is eerily reminiscent of a Mafia-controlled system, whereby we find two parallel and contradictory laws at play, with the taxpaying public being viciously hoodwinked into believing that the proverbial system is efficiently at work whereas, in reality, it is the insidious law of the criminal underworld that practically rules the roost, as it were. Interestingly, we also learn that the jailed MP’s name continues to be listed among those of his former colleagues who have been legitimately classified as “MPs Absent with Permission.” And just what does such curious classification of the jailed Keta MP mean? Does it mean, for instance, that in Ghana an MP duly convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for involvement in criminal activities deemed to be inimical to the interests and prosperity of the State has, in our Fourth Republic, come to be deemed as merely an MP who is on authorized long vacation by his colleagues? And so now, dear reader, do you get the drift of where the Mafia connection comes in?
It is also quite amusing, albeit hardly surprising, just how the NDC-Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr. Alban Bagbin, tried to cavalierly explain off why a legitimately jailed colleague should still be drawing a regular paycheck at the expense of the very Ghanaian taxpayer whose bilking by the same subject landed the latter in prison. “Dan’s name remains on the list of Excused Members of the House, because he asked for permission before proceeding to serve his ten-year prison term at Nsawam.”
Great, Mr. Bagbin! The next time that I find myself in the slammer – God forbid! – I shall definitely remember to give you a ring, so you would be able to seamlessly ensure that my share of the public dole would regularly get mailed to my wife and children; and, more importantly, get to my family around the clock, moon and sun!
And here, once again, we need to remind our diligent readers that the preceding cuts raw into the sort of patently bizarre “Adversarial Collaboration” that yours truly recently wrote about, vis-à-vis the unpardonably lopsided and abjectly parasitic relationship between the three sole Convention People’s Party members in parliament (CPP-MPs) and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). Needless to say, it was this very bizarre relationship, largely forged to spite the P/NDC, that saw CPP-MP Freddie Blay become First-Deputy Speaker of the House.
Needless to say, I have tried some umpteen times to fathom President Nkrumah gleefully naming Dr. K. A. Busia to the First-Deputy Speaker’s chair in the Ghana National Assembly during the heady days of the First Republic. And guess what Ghana’s premiere Chief-Corporatist told me in a dream, actually a nightmare – or was it a trance? – recently: “A UP adversary for First-Deputy Speaker of My House? Young man, you must be out of your mind! Or better yet, are you, perchance, related to my arch-nemesis, that Kyebi-Adadientem Evil-Genius who made me always feel like peeing in my pants? Take a hike, you Little Devil, before I order Sgt. Salifu Dagarti to break your mandibles!”
In other words, just exactly what did Mr. Freddie Blay mean when he cut off Messrs. Kwame Asiamah and Appiah-Ofori from demanding a full explanation of the Abodakpi anomally? “Let’s move onto other more progressive matters,” the First-Deputy Speaker is reported to have interjected, evidently peeved. And here, the Ghanaian taxpayer and other enquiring minds want to know: Just what is not “progressive”? Stopping a convicted former member of the august Ghanaian house of parliament from drawing a fat paycheck at the expense of taxpayers? I told you so, Mr. Mac Manu!
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