The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu ll, has urged Parliament to diligently scrutinise financial agreements and loan requests brought to the house for approval by the executive.
That, he said, would prevent the country from entering loan arrangements that have negative consequences for the country’s socio-economic development.
He said Ghanaians expected prudent economic decisions from parliament that would help to reduce local and foreign debt and not a series of “unfortunate” loan and liabilities.
This was in a speech read on his behalf by the Paramount Chief of Asante Mampong, Daasebre Osei Bonsu, at a public lecture held at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Monday.
The lecture was on the theme “30 years of Parliamentary Democracy under the Fourth Republic: The journey thus far.”
The Asantehene said it was imperative for parliament to champion the cause of the Ghanaian population and ensure their dreams and aspirations were met.
That, he said, included ensuring that the needs of citizens in terms of social amenities were adequately provided for by appropriate authorities.
“We must do everything necessary through Parliament to build a society that will stand the test of time and position our children well in an increasingly interconnected world,” he underlined.
The Asantehene urged Parliament not to leave entirely the responsibility of national development in the hands of the executive, asking it to take its space in the process.
If Parliament exercises its responsibility prudently, the country will not be in its current predicaments,” he said.
The Asantehene questioned why members of parliament were organised along party lines and called for re-evaluation of the system saying that less polarised groups would be more beneficial for the political dispensation.
The Asantehene stressed the importance of equitable distribution of financial and economic resources across the country for its development.
He noted that the current situation of road and railway networks needed considerable efforts to remedy the country and asked Parliament to live up to its oversight responsibility to shape up the country in a way that would be beneficial for all.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, told members of parliament to take the 30-year celebration seriously.
Referencing the recent event in Kenya, he noted it was the Parliamentarians who suffered though the initiative that led to the riot was from the executive.
He expressed hope that efforts would be made to ensure Ghana thrived for the benefit of all and sundry
FROM KINGSLEY E.HOPE,