General News of Thursday, 30 April 2015

Source: Rashid obodai Provencal

Reduce parliamentary seats from 275 to 104- Kan Dapaah

A former minister of the interior under the Kuffour led New Patriotic Party government has proposed that portions of the 1992 constitution of Ghana be amended to reflect the needs of the country today. The former minister who himself was a member of Ghana’s parliament, says the Legislative Assembly has become dysfunctional due to numerous challenges bedeviling it.

Hon. Kan Dapaah who headed a number of Ministries including Energy and Communications pointed out that the huge number of parliamentarians is hampering the effectiveness of the institution. He has therefore proposed that the number of members of parliament which now stands at 275 be reduced to 104.

Speaking further on his proposal, Hon. Kan Dapaah said though there are many members of parliament, few make contributions on pertinent National issues. He decried the amount of money the Honuorable members take home as salary; describing it as woefully inadequate.

He recommended that the number must be drastically reduced so that the few could be well empowered to undertake the function of parliamentary duties. Hon. Kan Dapaah raised this constitutional issue in an interview with Kwame Tutu the host of Rainbow Radio 87.5fm breakfast show.

The former MP now turned full-time lecturer stated that Ghana as a country is not serious in fighting corruption. According to him until serious sanctions and punishments are meted to people found culpable, the situation can never be dealt with.