The Overlord of Dagbon, His Royal Majesty Ya Na Abukari II, has urged Members of Parliament to avoid partisanship that sort to undermine the image of Ghana’s democracy and parliamentary practice.
He noted the MPs should rather focus on how to build a solid, one united country and prosperity for all citizens and shun excessive partisan parochial interest.
According to the King, Ghana is better than what we are seeing in the august chamber of Parliament especially the use of fisticuffs on the floor of the legislative house.
“I would like to appeal to our Members of Parliament as representatives of the sovereign people of Ghana to eschew excessive partisanship that undermines the image of Ghana’s democracy in the discharge of their work and rather focus on how to build a solid, one united country and prosperity for all citizens” he appealed.
Ya Na Abukari II made the remarks last Tuesday (March 29, 2022) during the commissioning of the Naa Gbewa interchange in the northern regional capital, Tamale.
The 8th Parliament of Ghana since its inception in 2021 has been greeted with a series of agitations and sometimes resulting into physical confrontations.
The two major political parties – the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress had 237 seats in Parliament with the only Independent Member of Parliament deciding to do business with the governing NPP making them the majority group.
However, Speaker Alban Bagbin believes the current hung Parliament presents the legislature with a unique opportunity to correct some errors in the past.
He indicated one such opportunity was pursuing a process that would ensure the legislature was strengthen to play its role as an organ of state to effectively deliver an open, transparent and accountable government.
Economic difficulties
Meanwhile, the revered King has also expressed concern about the increasing cost of living and the hikes in prices of goods and services. He noted the consistent upward adjustment of petroleum prices in recent weeks is worrying together with the performance of the local currency against major global currencies.
Mitigating measures
The Dagbon Overlord, however, commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the recent retreat at the Peduase Lodge to evaluate the performance of government programs and policies and map up some new strategies to address the challenges confronting Ghanaians.
His Majesty Ya Naa Abukari II said, “It is our hope and prayer that the government will religiously implement the difficult decisions taken at the Peduase Lodge which includes the review of some major policy initiatives and also cut in budgetary allocations to government ministries, agencies and departments”.
