General News of Tuesday, 20 December 2016

Source: ultimatefmonline.com

More novice MPs entering Parliament in 2017 - Minority Leader

Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, Minority leader in Parliament Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, Minority leader in Parliament

The Minority leader in Parliament Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has revealed that parliament in January 2017 will have high numbers of new entrants with a few old faces.

He observes that this is likely to affect the output of the house if new lawmakers are not properly taken through some form of training on procedures and processes in order to upgrade their knowledge to give off their best.

According to him, the new entrants must be properly schooled in the wake of an increasing public outcry about the quality of aspirants entering parliament in recent times.

The Suame lawmaker disclosed that poor quality of MPs has had a toll on the quality of debates on the floor of the house because most of them are not well trained to have been elected to the house because they lack the quality as required to make meaningful impacts in terms of contributions.

Speaking on the Abusua Nkomo hosted by Kwame Adinkra, he blamed the situation to the ability of these aspirants to buy their way into the legislator only upon entering to realize that they are not cut for the kind of work done in parliament.

“The highest bidders are always the winners in these cases because they have huge money bags. This is manifested by the quality of debates on the floor of the house”, he observed.

The minority leader emphasized that such persons are contributing to the numerous problems of legislators in the country because prior to their entry, they go about making fantastic promises as though parliamentarians generate money once voted into office.

He blamed such acts to ignorance on the part of the aspirants who know little or nothing about parliamentary duties in the country indicating that they also account for the reason parliament has now become a rubber stamp.

“By a Large extent, parliament is a rubber stamp where the sitting government always uses its way to pass a bill or agreements that turn out to be saddled with corrupt practices or improprieties. Most of them compromise themselves to get these issues passed”, he added.

While pledging to provide counsel to the new entrants, he urged them to avail themselves to understudy and be abreast with the rules and regulations of the house.