Some members of the current Parliament are not worthy to be in the august house, according to Minority Chief Whip, Hon Muntaka Mubarak Mohammed.
The Asawasi MP told a gathering at Bekwai in the Asante Bekwai Municipality that about 5-10 per cent of his colleagues perform abysmally and do not deserve the ‘Honourable’ title.
“It is true, some of our colleagues don’t even deserve the Honourable title we call them. Their performance is so abysmal,” he noted amid laughter from the gathering.
The minority chief whip made the assertions at a public forum organised by Parliament at Bekwai.
Similar engagements have been held in Tamale in the Northern Region and other parts of the country to inform the people about the goings-on in Parliament.
The citizens’ engagement forum, which was under the direction of the Public Affairs Directorate of Parliament, was on the theme: “Deepening Citizens Engagement for Better Understanding of the Legislature.”
Hon Muntaka Muhammed, who has been speaking in support of long term for parliamentarians, noted that about 40 of the then sitting Members of Parliament lost their party primaries in 2015, and he was therefore not surprised that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) lost the 2016 general election.
He explained that most people do not really understand the responsibilities of Parliament and the level of knowledge one needs to have before efficiently representing his people in the house.
The longer the person stays in Parliament, he pointed out, the more knowledge and experience he acquires and is able to contribute meaningfully to the formation of laws as well as perform other functions in the House which will greatly benefit the nation.
Other MPs who were at the citizens engagement forum were First Deputy Speaker and Member of Parliament for Bekwai, Hon Joseph Osei Owusu, Member of Parliament for Nwabiagya South, Hon Anhwere, Member of Parliament for Ejura Sekyedomase Hon Bawa Mohammed Braimah, and Member of Parliament for Odotobri, Hon Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi.
Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business, Sompanhene Hon Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, who spoke earlier also called on electorate to vote people who he described as ‘generalists’ into Parliament to enable them work efficiently on their behalf and for mother Ghana.
The hansard, he noted, documents everything that goes on in Parliament, hence before any statement comes out of any of them, it is supposed to have been well thought through and just uttered anyhow.
By this, he appealed to all electorate to elect ‘knowledgeable and wise people’ to represent them in Parliament.
Hon Mensah-Bonsu was unhappy by what he thought was an undue pressure mounted on parliamentarians, especially when the people needed development.
“The MP is not the agent of development, if there is lack of development in your area; you blame the executive arm of government and not the MP. The citizenry usually overlook the DCE and the executive and rather blame the MP who is a mere facilitator,” he said in defence of his colleagues.
Story: From James APPIAKORANG JNR., Bekwai, Ashanti Region
Writer’s email: nananie555@gmail.com