General News of Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Source: starrfmonline.com

Ghanaians must be educated on functions of MPs – Muntaka

Member of Parliament for the Asawase constituency, Alhaji Mubarak Muntaka Member of Parliament for the Asawase constituency, Alhaji Mubarak Muntaka

The Member of Parliament for the Asawase constituency, Alhaji Mubarak Muntaka has admonished Ghanaians to educate themselves on the roles and functions of the legislature.

The Majority Chief Whip, made this comment following a research conducted by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana which indicated that 84 percent of Ghanaians do not know the core responsibilities of MPs.

The Head of Research at the CDD, Dr. Franklin Oduro said citizens should be made to understand the core responsibilities of MPs and what they should be held accountable for.

According to the research, voters do not assess candidates against the performance of their core duties especially in the case of MPs.

The research indicated that majority of Ghanaians elect MPs based on what they will benefit from them directly and not what they can deliver.

Hon. Muntaka speaking to Starr News said more MPs are likely to lose their seats if they fail to educate electorates on the functions of the law making body.

“I think that we [MPs] have a responsibility of segregating what is expected and also help the electorates to concentrate on what the functions are and not what the individuals expect.

“If we continue to focus on what individuals expect to get from Members of Parliament, we will continue to have this kind of situation and unfortunately many more MPs will continue to lose seats.”