Politics of Friday, 8 January 2016

Source: GNA

MPs caution against grand promises

Mr Henric David Yeboah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Afigya Sekyere East has cautioned people seeking to be elected as MPs and incumbent parliamentarians to be wary of making grand promises to the electorate.

He said riding on such promises to the august house, would be a mirage because the MP is principally a lawmaker, and facilitator of development rather than an agent for development.

Other factors that could challenge the fulfillment of the electoral promises are the availability of funds and other resources as well the skills of the MP in lobbying, in addition to whether his or her party is in power.

Speaking with the Ghana News Agency in an interview on the challenges of the MP, Mr Yebaoh said: “Promises alone will not get you development projects. If you can count on proper lobbying, you’ll get things done. Tell your people I’ll lobby top get this or that done. “

He said the district, municipal and metropolitan chief executives are directly responsible for development at the local levels, through the Assemblies.

He described the Afigya Sekyere East Constituency as a “well-developed" but appealed to individuals and organisation to come on board with social protection programmes in aid of the constituents, who are mostly farmers.

He gave thumbs up to New Patriotic Party under the administration of former President John Agyekum Kufuor for repealing the Criminal Libel Law, but however called on journalists to crosscheck all facts before going public with their news.

Mr Yeboah asked media owners to pay their staff well.