From Eric’s Diary: Parliament- The leadership deficit in the chaos of January 30

There is an Akan proverb which translates thus, “your beauty will take you to marriage but your character will bring you back.”

There is this other one that says, “character is like pregnancy, no matter how long it takes, it will definitely show.” The truism in these wise sayings seems to be unfolding at the highest level of our governance.

The evidence is the state of disarray in which the Appointment Committee of the 9^th Parliament finds itself currently. The opinion I have formed about what happened on the evening of January 30 is lack of leadership and emotional intelligence.

What happened? It was 10:00pm and Minority members of the Appointment Committee expressed their inability to continue vetting President John Mahama’s ministerial nominees after assessing four of them. Any politically active viewer of TV on that night could read their minds- they wanted to vet Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs portfolio with refreshed minds and renewed energy on the following day.

On the other hand, their Majority counterparts were prepared to continue with proceedings to make up for lost time which was spent to extract an apology from social activist- Oliver Barker Vormawor for the bribery allegations he made against members of the Committee, the previous day.

With the two contrasting positions, one would have expected leadership and emotional intelligence to predominate in order to ensure a peaceful resolution. Instead, the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin stood on his feet in protest of the stance taken by his colleagues on the opposite side.

Expectedly, as followers do when their leaders act, the rest of the Minority members on the Appointment Committee stood on their feet too. That did not stop the Chairman of the Committee, Bernard Ahiafor, from proceeding. He ordered the Clerk to swear in the next nominee- Now Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh.

To demonstrate their resolve to stop proceedings, Afenyo-Markin’s followers placed their chairs on the tables. As that act did not yield the desired result, it is alleged that the Minority Chief Whip, Frank Annor Dompreh whipped the rest of his colleagues “Muntutu cables no” to wit “remove the cables.” That is what led to the pushing, shoving and near fisticuffs witnessed on live TV on that embarrassing night.

By the time the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga stepped in to calm waters, one of the tables had broken legs and almost all the state-of-the-art microphones had been dismembered.

The leadership deficit

While studying for my Public Administration degree at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), the then Rector, Prof Stephen Adae told us that “Leadership is cause, everything is effect.”

In preparing for this article, I chanced upon this definition- “True leadership lies in guiding others to success—in ensuring that everyone is performing at their best.”

It is now public knowledge that the kind of leadership witnessed on that night, from both Bernard Ahiafor and Alexander Afenyo-Markin, did not lead to success. Expectedly, this lack of true leadership resulted in the Minority members of the committee performing at their disruptive best. That is to say, like pregnancy, their innate characters showed up on that night.

Clearly, going by Prof Adae’s definition, the chaos we witnessed was caused by the two leaders- Afenyo-Markin and Bernard Ahiafor. I say so because they both failed in guiding their followers to act in a manner that could avert the spectacle that occurred.

From what I saw on TV, Afenyo-Markin did not order his colleagues from the Minority side to remove the cables and overturn the tables. However, by ignoring their excessive behaviour that unfolded right before him, he inadvertently urged them on and the effect is what we witnessed.

Order, Order, Order! This has become the stock in trade of Hon. Bernard Ahiafor. Unfortunately, his shouts of order! do not bring order anymore. One would have thought that he would realize that and adopt a new way of restoring calm when proceedings turned unruly.

On that fateful night, Mr Ahiafor failed to lead by not calling Mr Afenyo-Markin out of the room, when the latter and his followers placed their seats on the table, for a gentleman’s agreement on the way forward.

Emotional Intelligence

This refers to the ability to manage your own emotions and understand the emotions of people around you.

Here again, the Minority Leader failed the test. To have passed, he should have read the emotions of his followers and realized that without his direction to the contrary they were bent on going gaga. However, he himself was so livid on his feet, throwing his hands about that he did not care a hoot about the charged emotions of his men.

On the part of Ben Ahiafor, he was so pissed off that he sat nonchalantly with a frown on his face watching the chaos unfold and degenerate into near fisticuffs.

Mahama Ayariga to the rescue

To the uninitiated, it may seem strange how the emergence of the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga at the venue for the vetting suddenly calmed tempers.

In my view, Mr Ayariga achieved that feat because of how he has carried himself over the years in public office- Calm, respectful of other people’s opinions and emotionally intelligent.

Never in his public discourse have I seen him raise his voice, throw his hands, or made wide-eyed gestures at anybody.

The lawyer that he is, he puts his disagreements across in logically reasoned statements that gets anyone who may hold contrary opinion to listen to him, even if the points are controvertible.

His appearance on the scene that evening, no doubt, sent the right message to the misbehaving honourable members- ‘Majority Leader is here, let’s behave.’

Once he got their ears, the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central spoke to the pumping hearts of the Minority MPs.

“Ghana has one of the most beautiful and functioning democracies. The Ghanaian Parliament remains the envy of many parliaments. We’ve had an election that was so beautiful—the losing side conceded, and the whole world saw it. Let us not destroy that enviable image we have carved for ourselves,” he stated in his characteristic calm demeanor interlaced with “Is that okay?”

By the time he made the following statement, one could hear a pin drop, “It is clear from the level of destruction that the vetting cannot continue. All the microphones have been destroyed. That will make it impossible for the media to carry what the nominees say to Ghanaians. Vetting is about assessing the competence of the nominees. The vetting will therefore have to be postponed to tomorrow. We will get a new venue for the vetting.”

Speaker Bagbin’s suspension

Although condemned as illegal by human rights advocates and members of the Minority caucus, I consider the suspension of the four Members of Parliament- Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor, Frank Annor Dompreh, Hassan Tampuli and Jerry Ahmed Shaib very opportune.

If for nothing at all, it satisfied the expectation of many stakeholders in our democracy. Without that, the image of the august House would have been damaged forever.

Here again, Mahama Ayariga’s leadership qualities and adeptness in employing emotional intelligence showed in the pleas that got Speaker Bagbin to rescind the suspension. Hear him, “Mr Speaker, the Bible says to err is human, but to forgive is Mr Speaker.” Such display of emotional intelligence!!!

In contrast, Efo Afenyo, the legal luminary that he is, went his usual legalese route: “While the incident complained of is regrettable, there is a growing perception that the Minority Caucus has been disproportionately targeted in disciplinary measures. The decision to suspend three Minority Members-as against one Member of the Majority Caucus without allowing them due process casts an unfortunate political overtone on the Speaker’s impartiality.”

It’s time to go

I have had cause to tell my colleagues in the office a few times that based on my personal observation, leadership is about achieving results.

Thus, one may hold a big leadership title- MD, CEO, Group Chairman and any of the ones in Parliament. However, if the possession of the title leads to losses, toxic work environment or a brawl-prone Parliament, then that title is bereft of leadership.

Undoubtedly, the Minority Chief Whip position held by Mr Frank Annor Dompreh is such a big leadership post as far as Parliament is concerned. Unfortunately, an act of his, on the eve of January 30 compelled the now CEO of the Petroleum Commission, Emeafa Hardcastle to tell him not to be silly. He took so much offence at the statement that he reported the issue to the Speaker of Parliament.

It was while the House was planning how to drag Ms or is it Mrs Hardcastle to the Privileges Committee that Mr Dompreh gave the “Muntutu cables nu” directive- an order which obviously escalated the already tensed situation.

Consequently, the refrain on Social Media is “Character is like pregnancy, no matter how long it takes, it will definitely show.”

For now, given the shame that the January 30 incident has brought to Parliament in particular and Ghana as a whole, we can only hope that the work of the Appointment Committee does not lead to the expelling of Mr Dompreh and Jerry Ahmed Shaib, who was seen lifting the table in the videos. Incidentally, Shaib is the President of Ghana Weight Lifters Association (GWLA).

If they are sacked, then the originator of this saying would be vindicated- “Your beauty will take you to marriage but your character will bring you back.”

Meyi hoo – That’s goodbye in Ewe.

Let God Lead. Follow Him directly, not through any human.

The writer is the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Columnist of the Year- 2022. He is the author of two books whose contents share knowledge on how anyone desirous of writing like him can do so. Eric can be reached via email [email protected]

 

 

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