TV3’s Key Points, the News and Current Affairs show that empanels knowledgeable panelists to digest the week’s most topical issues was as educative as ever on Saturday March 30.
Here are 5 things we learnt from the panelists.
- President must own up when institutions fail to work – Governance Expert
Governance expert and former United Nations Advisor on Governance, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, stated that when institutions fail to meet the needs of citizens, the president must take responsibility and act in favour of the population.
His comments come on the back of the Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECG) failure to comply with a directive from the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) to publish a load management timetable on the ongoing power outages in the country.
“In governance, when such situations arise, we look for who is responsible, but ultimately it is the executive, the president who made these appointments to own up to whatever that citizens find to be unacceptable,” said Prof. Agyeman-Duah.
“When you hear key agencies responsible for the energy sector appearing to be contradicting themselves or not being even with the people, that is to say, lacking transparency on what really is going on, then in terms of governance, we all begin to wonder whether the centre can no longer hold,” he added.
2. Any govt that succeeds Akufo-Addo’s will experience ‘dumsor’ – Duncan Amoah
Executive Director of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC) Duncan Amoah said that the real challenge facing the power sector is not being addressed.
He identified financial issues as the real cause of the power challenges.
He indicated that there is a shortfall in how much the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) collects from the sale of power.
“The problem will keep recurring if we don’t tackle the real issue, the real issue is the financial problem. There is a financing gap between what ECG collects and what we produce.
Any government that succeeds the Akufo-Addo administration, whether another NPP government or NDC will face the dumsor challenge we had under Mahama.”
3. Dismissal of Dafeamekpor suit doesn’t mean Parliament should automatically consider the new ministers – Gyampo
A Professor at the University of Ghana, Ransford Gyampo said that the dismissal of the suit filed by South Dayi Member of Parliament Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor against the consideration of the new ministers does not automatically mean the ministerial nominees should be approved.
“It is not a marching order to act on the ministerial nominees of the president,” he said.
“Parliament is superior to the executive arm…President Akufo-Addo has a nation to govern and so the responsibility lies on him to act in a manner that shows cooperation because if the hung parliament decides to frustrate the government, we will all suffer,” he added.
4. Akufo-Addo is not restrained from receiving the anti-gay bill – Mahama Ayariga
The suit that has been filed against the anti-gay bill is not restraining the president from receiving the anti-lgbtqi bill, Bawku Central lawmaker Mahama Ayariga, said.
He said that nobody has sought to restrain the president from receiving the bill. Rather, the president is being prevented from signing the document.
To that end, he said, he has problems with the letter the Attorney-General wrote to the president advising against receiving and signing the bill.
“The president is not restrained by the reliefs being sought from receiving the bill, nobody has sought an order to restrain him from receiving…the only order people are seeking is to stop him from signing.
“I am shocked and scandalized by the Attorney-General in this advice,” he said.
5. President should sign anti-gay bill; parliament should also approve the ministers – Prof Antwi
A Governance Expert Professor Enoch Antwi said that the action taken by Parliament against the consideration of the new ministers as well as the decision of the president not to sign the anti-gay bill until the Supreme Court is done with the case against the bill should all be done in the interest of Ghanaians.
He says that Ghanaians want the bill to be passed into law. Therefore, the President should sign it. Equally, he added, the people expect governance to continue, therefore Parliament must approve the new ministers.
“All these should be done and done in the interest of Ghanaians. Ghanaians want the president to sign the bill into law because these are the values of the people.
“In the same way we expect parliament to approve these ministers to work. As we speak now, they are not working and that’s affecting governance,” Prof Antwi said while contributing to a discussion on the dismissal of the suit filed by South Dayi lawmaker Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor against Parliament’s approval of the ministers-designate.