The Executive Director of Africa Centre for International Law & Accountability – ACILA, Mr. William Nyarko has welcomed for the news that parliament has rescinded its decision to build a USD$200 million 450 capacity new chamber.
The decision was met with tough resistance from Ghanaians with a social media campaign with the hashtag #DropThatChamber. The campaign saw three members of the Economic Freedom Fighters led by their leader, Mr. Ernesto Yeboah arrested in Parliament for shouting #DropThatCamber from the Parliament’s public gallery while proceedings were ongoing. Reports said the action was provoked by a statement from Member of Parliament for Adansi-Asokwa during his justification on the floor of Parliament that parliamentarians cannot seat under a tree to discharge their constitutional mandate.
The campaign also saw a military officer from Sunyani who is currently alleged to have been detained at the Ghana Military Police to face disciplinary actions for recording a video in which he openly slammed the lawmakers over the proposed new chamber.
In a Facebook post sighted by Awake News, Mr. Nyarko praised the democratic path the country, Ghana has chosen – this he said gave the voice to the citizens to demand transparency and accountability from duty bearers.
No matter the challenges we face with our democracy in Ghana, we must always choose democratic governance over military dictatorship. One of the many good reasons to choose democracy over military rule is that you can use voice to demand transparency and accountability in a democracy, whereas under military rule, your voice, that is, your freedom to speak up to demand transparency and accountability is muzzled.
For him, “Because you spoke up, this ‘chamber’ has been dropped. Under military rule, something similar to this ‘chamber’ would have been built without reference to you”
Mr. Nyarko is of the view that “A democracy dies if there is no voice” and urged citizens to “continue to use our voice to demand transparency and accountability”
By: Efo Korsi Senyo / awakenewsonline.com
