Minority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has bemoaned the practice of replacing sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) every four years.<\/p>\n
He said the practice only serves to weaken Parliament as an institution.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the average, the longer a person stays in Parliament, the better he is for the institution of Parliament and for the advancement of good democratic governance,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
The Suame MP argued that individuals with experience and competence are needed in the legislature to make useful contributions towards the passing of laws and proper oversight over the Executive arm of government.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Citi News<\/strong>, Mr. Mensah Bonsu said Parliament should devise ways of keeping experienced ones.<\/p>\n He described as unfortunate, the practice where political parties encourage \u201ca free for all primaries and so many of the members are peeled off at the end of every four years.<\/p>\n The Minority leaders therefore called on the various political parties to find ways of maintaining competent and experienced MPs in the House.<\/p>\n Legislators in Ghana are voted into power by the constituents to serve a four-year term.<\/p>\n Based on one\u2019s competence and performance, the constituents may either renew his or her mandate or elect a new Legislator to represent them in Parliament.<\/p>\n Gradually however, there is a seeming rise in the monetization of politics in Ghana which ensures that the person who has more money is elected into office.<\/p>\n This is believed to be the one of the causes for the decline in the quality of MPs being voted into power.<\/p>\n In recent times, there have been criticism about the quality of debate and contributions some MPs make on the floor of Parliament which some say results in the passage of weak laws.<\/p>\n In March this year, a former Majority leader and MP for Nadowli\/Kaleo, Alban Bagbin accused some of his colleague MPs for taking bribes from individuals and organizations to articulate their views in Parliament.<\/p>\n A committee was subsequently set up to investigate his allegations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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