Tema-Ghana, April 19, CDA Consult – Mr Abraham Koomson, Secretary General of the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), has noted the Council of State must play an active role in national discourse, despite the fact that the Council’s purpose is to advise the President on problems as stated in Article 91 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
Organized Labour argued that they were not doing enough in terms of policies, and that several decisions made by the government did not take into account advice from the Council of State.
stated, “Sometimes we blame the President, but I think those around him are not advising him well.” The Council of State must live up to the responsibility of advising him as part of their mission.”
Mr. Koomson was speaking on the Ghana News Agency-Tema Industrial News Hub Dialogue platform about the impact of three bills: the Excise Duty and Excise Tax Stamp (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the Income Tax (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2022, and the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, 2022, all of which were passed by a 137-136 majority in Parliament.
He claimed that despite a number of public issues, such as the head cut and subsequent picketing by pension bondholders at the Finance Ministry, as well as the passage of tax bills against the wishes of the majority of the people, members of the Council of State have not been heard commenting on them in public.
“Even if they advise the President and he does not take it, they should inform us; they can also resign if their recommendations are not taken, rather than just being there and adding to the state’s expenditure,” he said.
He asked them to pay attention to the public’s outcry about economic suffering and to advise the President on how to ease the burden through sound fiscal, social, and developmental policies.
The GFL’s Secretary General further urged MPs to act as proper balances on the executive branch of government by rejecting such laws rather than passing them.
He stated that legislators must actually represent the people who voted for them rather than following their personal interests to the detriment of the citizens.
Mr. Koomson also urged political parties to have orientations for persons interested in becoming MPs, noting that doing so would help them understand and fight for their views.
He remarked, for example, that while the New Patriotic Party (NPP) claims its ideology is capitalism and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) claims social democracy, the actions of their representatives in Parliament do not reflect this.
