Minority leader explains why there are a lot of first term MPs in Ghana’s Parliament
Ghana’s Parliament is filled with fresh lawmakers because of the high expectation on members of Parliament, who have to fill the development gap of local government authorities, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrissu has said.
The widening development gap meant that aspiring legislators are compelled to make promises they could not keep, forcing impatient electorates to kick them out, he explained.
“Development actors like government, ministries, district assemblies have failed to reflect the views and aspirations of the people. So often times members of Parliament are forced to make promises they cannot keep and they tend to suffer the frustrations of the people,” he said on GBC News’ current affairs programme, Focus.
By default, parliamentarians have had to carry the financial burdens of electorates as a means of securing their seats, he said of the challenges the lawmakers face.
READ: After 14 Yrs In Parliament, Here Are Two Reasons Why I’m Quitting – Inusah Fuseini
With Ghanaian MPs forced to meet the needs of their constituents, the Minority Leader said such demands trigger corruption.
, “In Ghana, corruption is driven by the everyday need, the demands on that outdooring, the funeral, that uncompleted house …. how is the MP going to do that from his income?
“So, when he gets that opportunity, he is likely to abuse the process to satisfy that need because that need is the source of his legitimacy” he noted.
Commenting on the high number of experienced MPs who would exit Parliament after the recent NPP primaries, the MP for Tamale South Constituency said, “the system does not respect and reward experience hands, we have Alban Bagbin, Kyei Mensah, Collins Dauda on their way out of parliament.
“And in the most recent primaries of the New Patriotic Party, it was as if there was a democratic coup d’état for its chairmen, almost all the key chairmen in Parliament were swept off…. You have Mark Assibey Yeboah of the Finance Committee; William Agyapong Quaittoo of the Education Committee and Ben Abdallah Banda of the Constitutional and Legal Committee” he noted.
Mr Bagbin, who is currently the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament and has been in the house since 1992, will not contest the 2020 election. But the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and the Collins Dauda, MP for Asutifi South have indicated that this year’s election will be their last shot.
The Minority Leader blamed the loss of ” these fine brains in parliament” to the vote-buying phenomenon in Ghanaian politics, where the highest bidder won the race through greasing the palms of delegates.
“Could it be that they did not perform well as members of parliament or legislators? No, a lot of them were carried away by the power of money” he said.
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