Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), Dr Rasheed Draman has said most people who go to Parliament do not do so because they are interested in the workings of the legislature.
He says they go there with the objective of geting ministerial appointments, because the 1992 Constitution mandates the President to appoint half of his ministers from Parliament.
Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, December 30, while commenting on the exit of the Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and the other lawmakers who have decided not to seek reelection, he said “with a huge Majority of the MPs, the interest is not in the workings for Parliament, rather for an Executive appointment.”
He added “The mad rush will disappear if the law to appoint Ministers from Parliament is removed.
Dr Rasheed Draman further said the next Parliament will be denied the experiences and skills of the lawmakers who have decided not to seek reelection.
This is so because the political parties do not have a structure to prepare people to go to Parliament. If the structure had existed, those being prepared would have been mentored by the exiting lawmakers, he said.
Dr Draman is unhappy with the way experienced Members of Parliament (MPs) are exiting the House.
It is his wish that the MPs are allowed to remain in the House even if they are advancing in age because of their rich experience in parliamentary proceedings.
Dr Draman, earlier while speaking on Ghana Tonight on Tuesday December 26 also noted that the exit of the Majority Leader, Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, and a few other lawmakers from Parliament will leave a very huge vacuum in the House.
To address the situation he suggested that, “we need to get these MPs to try and transfer their knowledge into the new ones. I think Parliament itself should think seriously about it, because we want our democracy to grow. If you go to the advanced democracies like the US you will have Congressmen who have been in the House for over forty or fifty years, some of them are even wheeled to the House, these are people who are compendiums of knowledge about the workings of the US Congress. I think we want to see some of them in our system.”
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) closed nominations on December 25 for parliamentary aspirants in constituencies where it has sitting Members of Parliament (MPs).
The election is slated for January 27, 2024.
This is the next stage of the party’s quest to have parliamentarians in all the 275 constituencies. It was preceded by the successful hosting of primaries in what the party calls orphan constituencies on December 2.
At the close of nominations on Christmas day, some experienced members of the party did not pick forms. They have thus, voluntarily decided to end their parliamentary careers.
Here is a list of the MP bigwigs in the 8th Parliament who have bowed out.
Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu (Suame Constituency – Ashanti Region). He has been in Parliament since 1997.
Joseph Osei-Owusu (Bekwai Constituency- Ashanti Region). Has been in Parliament since 2009
Samuel Atta Akyea (Abuakwa South Constituency). He has been in Parliament since 2009.
Joe Ghartey (Essikado Ketan Constituency). He has been in Parliament since 2005.
Kennedy Agyapong (Assin Central Constituency). He has been in Parliament since 2001.
Daniel Botwe (Okere Constituency). He has been in Parliament since 2009.
Kwasi Amoako-Atta (Atiwa West Constituency). He has been in Parliemnt since 2009.
Emmanuel Marfo (Oforikrom Constituency). He has been in Parliament since 2017.
Benito Owusu-Bio (Atwima Nwabiagya Constituency). He has been in Parliament since 2005.
Nana Kwasi Adjei Boateng (New Juabeng North Constituency). He has been in Parliament since 2013.
Johnson Adu (Ahafo Ano South West Constituency). He has been in Parliament since 2013.
- Francis Manu-Adabor (Ahafo Ano South-East Constituency). He has been in Parliament since 2017.
- Suleman Sanid (Ahafo Ano North Constituency). He has been in Parliament since 2017.
- Kojo Kum (Ahanta West Constituency).He has been in Parliament since 2017.
- Francisca Oteng (Kwabre East Constituency). She has been in Parliament since 2017.
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