Lawyer and Partner at Deloitte Africa, Yaw Appiah Lartey, has urged Ghana’s political leaders to uphold the democratic processes they have collectively established.
His comment follows the Minority’s decision to stage a walkout during the vetting of Chief Justice nominee, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, Mr Lartey said that while political disagreements are unavoidable, abandoning parliamentary processes undermines the nation’s democratic development and denies citizens the quality of scrutiny expected from their representatives.
“We should respect the laws and processes that we set for ourselves at any point in time,” he said. “What is important for us as a country is that we take lessons from history.”
He pointed to historical examples as a warning, highlighting the opposition’s refusal to take up their parliamentary seats after the 1992 elections, a decision that he said resulted in a diminished quality of legislative debate.
“What we lost was the quality of debate that we could have expected if the opposition had gone to Parliament,” he explained.
“And 1996 was a clear reflection of it when they went to Parliament, you saw the quality of the debates and the kind of laws that were passed.”
According to Mr Lartey, the Minority’s recent walkout risks repeating those past mistakes, depriving the country of the robust oversight that a fully participating Parliament provides.
“Where we have an instance where the Minority decides not to participate in the process, we lose the benefit of the quality of scrutiny that would have come out if they had stayed or participated,” he warned.
He emphasised that national institutions must function above partisan disagreements, especially as Parliament handles decisions that will shape the judiciary for years to come.
“Yes, we may have some issues, but we should not allow this to continue,” he said. “Ultimately, if and when the Chief Justice nominee approved is sworn in, he is going to make judicial decisions and it is going to affect all of us.”