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Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, a former vice president, has raised profound disappointment at what appears to be the country’s democratic institutions being undermined by the Kpandai parliamentary problem.
The Kpandai seat was declared vacant by Parliament in a letter to the Electoral Commission, which subsequently announced a date for a rerun of the 2024 parliamentary election, despite an appeal process filed by the MP for Kpandai Martin Nyindam contesting a high court order for a rerun.
The former vice president has expressed disapproval of the raw punishment given to the MP, claiming it violates democratic norms and precedent, and both parliament and the EC have come under fire for neglecting the appeals process.
“To say the least I’m very disappointed with what is going on in our country. It looks like our institutions of democracy and our tenets of democracy are being undermined,” Dr. Bawumia said in an interview.
“The issue of Kpandai with Mathew Nyindam is not a new issue in our democratic politics. We have had issues with Dan Abodakpi, issues with Takyi Quaison in Assin. Basically, you’ve had the House allow the legal processes to take place and be exhausted before state institutions are subpleaded into acting into ways that undermine democracy.”
Dr. Bawumia, who expressed surprise at the ”indecent haste” with which the MP is being denied a fair court process, slammed Parliament and called for all involved to respect the democratic institutions and tenets of the country.
“Martin Nyindam should be given his day in court. He has filed appeal processes at the high Court. He has filed for a judicial review at the Supreme Court and none of those cases has been adjudicated so why the rush? Why the indecent haste?”
“I think that he is being railroaded, I think that this undermines our institutions of democracy and I think that we should take a halt to these processes and allow him to have his day in court as others have done in the past.”
“The House has never really rushed in this way when it came to the other cases. What is the difference with the case of Martin Nyindam?”
“It should not be the case. We should uphold the tenets of democracy. Democracy is something precious that we’ve all had and we have all subscribed to.”
Dr. Bawumia added that there would be dire repercussions for the nation if political power was used to “break down” the foundations of democracy.
“When you start undermining its (democracy) pillars, you break it down and the consequences for the nation are very severe. Simply because you have power, you shouldn’t feel that you can run roughshod over your opponents and the principles of democracy.”
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
