Otumfuo Osei Tutu II
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has admonished Members of Parliament against working to frustrate the efforts of the government towards the development of the country.
He said even though the MPs have the power to scrutinise everything that is brought before Parliament, it is not the role of the legislature to determine the policy direction of the government.
“It is to our good that our representatives in Parliament subject national budget to the most vigorous scrutiny and to call for changes. Government must always also have the humility to acknowledge and embrace useful inputs from all sources,” he said, adding that “But our representatives need to also bear in mind that it is not the role to either determine policy for the executive or to frustrate them from performing their legitimate duty.”
Gold Coin
Otumfuo Osei Tutu gave the advice at the launch of the Commemorative Gold Coin at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi on Sunday night.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) gave the permission to Gold Coast Refinery Limited to design commemorative gold coins to celebrate the Asantehene, for his contribution to the peace, stability and development of the country in the past 22 years and after he was accorded the title ‘Pillar of Peace’.
The Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) in collaboration with a business solutions provider, the EON 3 Group, spearheaded the launch of the gold coins which are of 99.99 per cent assay at 24 carat fine gold, with a diameter of 37mm and weight of 31.104 grammes each.
The face of the gold coins bears the image of the Asantehene, with the Adinkra symbols ‘Bi Nka Bi’ and ‘Mpatapo’, which symbolise peace, harmony and reconciliation and the reverse bears an image of the Golden Stool (Sika Dwa).
Vigorous Scrutiny
According to the Asantehene, “we elect people to represent us to make sure there is some equilibrium in what governments do. It is to our good that our representatives in Parliament subject the national budget to most vigorous scrutiny and to all, to call for changes.”
He said, the good thing in a democracy is that people listen, observe and weigh what their leaders do over time and pass their judgments at the appropriate time.
“So, our parliamentary representatives can be sure that their contributions in the House are not wasted. The people have noted them and know that they will reflect on them when the time comes to determine the next face in our governing process. That may be two years away but that is what democracy demands.
“What is important now is for them to turn down the temperature and allow the process of governance to proceed so that the people will retain their exclusive right to pass judgment on how they have been governed at the appropriate time,” he stressed.
The Asantehene said taxation is a necessity in developing every economy, insisting that in the bid to scrutinise every policy, the MPs should not be seen to be frustrating the government.
“And if we are honest, we would also agree that no people in the whole wide world love paying taxes and yet there is no other way conceived by the human mind, the government can raise resources to provide for our needs rather than raising taxes,” he said.
He added “and I do not know of any form of taxes which is less painful than others. So, the government will raise such taxes if they found it necessary to meet our needs and if we are good citizens, we have to pay our taxes.”
From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi