The first Deputy Minority Chief Whip and the National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for Banda Constituency in the Bono Region, has predicted that several incumbent Members of Parliament of the New Patriotic Party are likely to lose their seats in the January 27 2024 parliamentary primaries.
The Banda Member of Parliament speaking in a media interview attributed the possible loss of the various incumbent Members of Parliament of the New Patriotic Party to the lack of resources on their part to undertake projects in their respective constituencies resulting from the government’s inability to disburse their shares of the district assembly common fund.
According to Honorable Ahmed Ibrahim, while the majority of the ruling New Patriotic Party’s incumbent Members of Parliament do not have enough resources, their fellow contenders in the parliamentary primaries who are occupying various positions in government agencies and institutions have direct access to funding.
He strongly asserted that such a situation would put the majority of the ruling party’s Members of Parliament at a disadvantage position to contest against such resourceful government officials including Chief Executives of Officers of some state-owned enterprises.
“The president has unseated them already. As I speak to you, your government MPs are going to the polls. Their common fund arrears have not been given to them so they cannot deliver on some of their promises. They are going to face your CEOs, your Controller and Accountant General, So it is like MPs are fighting from a losing end”.
Ahmed Ibrahim
Honourable Ibrahim Ahmed further accused President Akufo-Addo and his administration of deliberatively orchestrating the removal of some incumbent Members of Parliament of the New Patriotic Party to possibly make way for his favourite candidates to go to parliament.
Danger Of Experienced Members Of Parliament Exiting Parliament
On the other hand, the first Deputy Minority Chief Whip in Parliament expressed concerns about the possible danger that the exit of some experienced members of Parliament of the New Patriotic Party would have on parliamentary business.
According to him, with almost eighteen sitting Members of Parliament including the Majority leader and the first Deputy Speaker of Parliament all not returning to the chamber in the next parliament, the issues of loss of institutional memory and expertise knowledge in parliamentary proceedings would pose severe challenge to the business of the house.
Comparing the New Patriotic Party situation to the recent National Democratic Congress primaries where about eighteen incumbent Members of Parliament lost their seats, Mr Ibrahim expressed concern about the trend of experienced lawmakers leaving Parliament.
“The exit of Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu who was trained by J.H Mensah, are you saying it is not going to hurt parliament, it will. As for representation, you will get somebody to represent you but as for replacement, you cannot replace the institutional memory and capacity of the exiting MP and that is how parliament is going to be negatively affected. We take you, invest in you and throw you out”
Ahmed Ibrahim
The opposition National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for Banda Constituency further accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of sidelining some of the experienced Members of Parliament in his administration.
According to him, the underutilization of such Members of Parliament under President Akufo-Addo’s administration is partly to be blamed for their decision to exit the parliament.
“You see Joe Ghartey, you see Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi which post is he holding, zero. Joe Ghartey which post is he holding, zero. I can mention the names of the seniors to you. Joe Ghartey was a former Attorney General and a former deputy speaker but he is there, his party is not using him so he sees himself as being underutilized.
“And do you think that when that happens he will contest again, he will not? Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi was a law lecturer from Tech, he is here, they left him and took a first-timer as an Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General in those days. Anyimadu-Antwi is still there, a law lecturer, with 16 years in parliament”.
Ahmed Ibrahim
The Honorable Ahmed Ibrahim concluded by urging the ruling New Patriotic Party to take proactive steps to retain some of its experienced Members of Parliament to benefit from their expertise in the next Parliament.
He emphasized the importance of recognizing their contributions and offering them roles that utilize their skills and knowledge.
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