Sometimes, the behavior of our 230 Parliamentarians is very pathetic when you consider the fact that this country has numerous problems that need attention of Parliament to bring some relief to the people, but instead they would be talking about trivial issues that do not take this country anywhere.
In the past, under the guises of being dragged to the Privileges Committee of Parliament, our MPs have tried to put the fear of God in people who have tried to point out their mistakes and get them to understand the purpose for which they were in the House. It is for this reason that most concerned citizens have recoiled in their attempt at making public comments on the behavior of our some Members of Parliament.
Only last Wednesday, when this country was grappling with how to get the crude oil from Nigeria to Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and some other very important national issues, some of which Parliament itself had deferred because they had just returned from recess, they found time to debate Prophet T. B. Joshua of “The Synagogue Church of all Nations. And what was it that the Nigerian Prophet had said that engaged the attention of our August house? That the Prophet had claimed credit for the Black Satellite victory in the just ended FIFA under 20 World Cup Tournament in Egypt.
The question that the Ghana Palaver newspaper would like to ask is, is this an issue that should engage the time of our Parliamentarians when we have very important national issues waiting for them on arrival from recess? If the Prophet says he helped the Black Satellite to win the under 20 world cup and the claim is not true, why should it become an issue to the extent that no less an institution like our Parliament should turn that statement into a national debate.
This is the reason by majority of the Ghanaian populace have the impression that our Parliamentarians forget the purpose for which they are in Parliament as soon as they are elected to the House. The people who voted for them in the constituencies lack many amenities which include water, electricity, schools, hospitals, roads etc. expecting their members of Parliament to help them alleviate these problems, only for them to use the people’s time and resources to debate trivial issues like claims by Prophet T.B. Joshua which does not benefit the people.
Why has it now become the rule in some of our constituencies that an aspiring member of parliament should pay for the votes of the electorate? It is because some of these behaviours when members of the house no longer see the needs of the people as their responsibility and their own welfare become the most important issue to them.
To the people of this country, the claim by the Nigerian Prophet is not important. What is important to them is that they wanted the Under 20 World Cup and the boys have won it; in spite of the claim by the Prophet, the cup did not go to Nigeria but came to Ghana, so what is our worry?
It is gradually becoming clear that all the attacks on the prophet is diversionary, since it is not the Prophet the attacks are meant for but our President, for having a relationship with the Nigerian Man of God.
Our Parliament is a very important institution and it is our wish that members of the House would see it as such and stop demeaning the August House with these frivolous issues like the prophet T.B. Joshua issue.
