As per the requirements of a constitutional provision (specifically Section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), the Minister of Finance is expected to present a mid -year budget review to Parliament. A routine act which met the walkout of the Minority in the House. This action on the part of the Minority baffles critical observers to question whether the nation is practicing “democracy” and if so, then it must be very stupid and silly given the action of the Minority in parliament.
Why this episode matters?
The action of the Minority strikes at the core of the type of “democracy” practiced in the country where the primary interest of political parties supersedes the primary interests of the people who are represented. The Minority must act this way because they are the Opposition and the opposition must be seen as doing their jobs by opposing the ruling administration regardless whether there is any credibility in the action or the nation needs all and sundry for its transformation. At least several of the kitchen table indicators – inflation, currency appreciation, interest rates, prices of food and fuel, water and electricity bills, education and health services- point in the right direction so far and reflect solid performance record beneficial to the people of the country. This leads to the question: where is the constructive criticism expected to be provided by the opposition in a democracy practice geared at uplifting the very people whose representatives staged a walkout and thus depriving the ruling administration the credit it deserves?
Reality of the Type of Democracy Practiced
Under the type of democracy practiced in the nation., the action of the Minority is justifiable, legitimate, and no rule has been breached. In this context, an opposition must oppose even if the action could be harmful, stupid, and senseless because it is the democracy mantra institutionalized as the norm. But is this in the best interest of the people represented or the nation’s transformative trajectory? Given the massive and overwhelming electoral mandate bestowed on the ruling administration, the people may want some form of collaboration to move the nation in a direction different from staging a walkout.
Ensuring the Primacy of Communal Interest in the Organizational Life of the Nation
In the annals of the nation’s history, staging a walkout in light of commendable kitchen table indicators may not be different from some of the actions of the independence struggle forebears who reneged on collaboration with each other for a better nation-building agenda mainly because the alternative action was legitimate under forms of democracy practice of the day was legitimate. Such a scenario calls for revisiting the fundamentals of democracy arrangement bequeathed to the nation by the independence forebears.
It is in this regard that the Blended Knowledge Solutions’ school of thought has been advocating that power to govern be shared between leaders selected based on Western democracy ideals, and leaders chosen by the people based on African norms, conventions, and practices (see Anani, Leadership in Independent Africa: Six Decades On: The Blended Representation Principle as a Cause for Afro-Optimism (London: Zed Publications, 2024). From such a perspective, it is believed the primacy of communal interest can be guaranteed in any arrangement of organizing the nation for the collective good.
The author is the Founder and Manager of the Blended Knowledge Solutions Network (www.bksnetwork.org), a think and do tank dedicated to using blended knowledge: local and global for transformation development of Africa. He can be reached at: 233544611282, or [email protected].
