New NPP Guidelines for MPs Retention …Inactive Members To Lose Out

Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, has indicated that, the New Patriotic Party is coming out with guidelines for the retention of Members of Parliament (MPs) in subsequent elections.

He revealed that the guidelines would scrutinize MPs by assessing their performance in terms of attendance and participation in businesses of the House, stressing that, only active Members would be retained to represent the party in future elections.

“We are losing focus and diverting attention from what should be the statutory responsibilities of Parliament, and that is why many times we don’t see many of these members in Parliament.

“Your performance in Parliament will hold you up, as to whether you must be retained or not. I’m pleased to announce today that my core party has also indicated that, attendance to businesses of Parliament will be a primary indicator as to whether or not a Member of Parliament should be retained.

“To this end, we have positioned our whips to take notes of when any member from the majority side enters, when he leaves the chamber and how long the person stays” he revealed.

He urged political parties to assist in strengthening the legislative structure, by adopting a system of selecting and retaining MPs in order to ensure that their core mandate is efficiently discharged.

He noted that, lots of individuals enter the House with different levels of expectations, only to feel disappointed after realizing that the House is not a rosy and money-making place, and bemoaned the increasing monetization of Ghana’s body politic.

“We are increasingly over-monetizing our politics, where members of parliament abandon the works of parliament for their private businesses to meet the high demands from constituents, to ensure they are retained as members of Parliament”.

Hon. Mensah-Bonsu was speaking at the ‘5th edition of the Crystal Ball Series’, held under the theme: “Opening up Parliament for Effective Governance”, and organized by the Parliamentary News Africa (PNA) in conjunction with the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD).

The Crystal Ball Series is a leading civil society Parliamentary Assessment event that brings together Members of Parliament and the Media, to dialogue on issues concerning the affairs and business of the House.

By: Frederick E. Aggrey