The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for the Kumbungu Constituency, Ras Mubarak, has asserted in an interview that it will be unfortunate for Ghana as a country if over 150 lawmakers exit from Parliament.
The MP’s declaration comes on the back of survey conducted by the Political Science department at the University of Ghana which suggest that about 50 percent of incumbent MPs will lose their seats if elections were held today.
On Happy FM’s ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ show, Ras Mubarak, said it affects Parliament if MPs only spend one term in the house as lawmakers because a lot of state funds are spent on the first time MPs.
“If first time MPs don’t return to parliament, it is a financial lost to the state. When a new MP comes to parliament and parliament spends a lot of money in sending us to conferences and training programmes and four years come and you vote him out, it means all that he has learn, he is going home with it. If you bring somebody else, the person is coming to learn all over again. I saw the headline which reads ‘Over 150 MPs are going to lose their seats’.”
He added that, “If about 150 current MPs lose their seats, we shouldn’t jubilate over this because it is a disaster for the country. Parliament, aside everything, is built on institution memory so it will be disastrous for MPs to be changed every four years.”
The survey conducted by the school also indicated that 42.6 percent of the respondents were ready to retain their lawmakers with 7.9 percent of the respondents were uncertain.
By: Joseph Nii Ankrah
