Report by Nana POKU
The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader, Hon Kyei Mensah Bonsu, has advocated for fewer members of parliament like 200 hundred instead of the 10 years additions done regularly in Ghana.
The minister said this when he met the press on his turn to address the media on goings-on at his ministry.
He intimated that Ghana is a small state with just 31 million people and does not need the current number of MPs of 275. He indicated that at best dividing the current population, each constituency must have about 150,000 constituents or 120,000 people to qualify as a constituency. He disagreed on the current gerrymandering process that parties use to create constituencies to gain advantage over their opponents as unhealthy.
Tracing the Parliamentary numbers in Ghana, he said the First Republic worked with 104 members of parliament. This was increased to 140 in the Second Republic. This was increased to 200 by the NDC in 1992 and increased again in 2004 to 230 by the NPP.
The NDC again increased it to 275 in 2012.
This he said is not too good for our democracy. He argued that we should do proper geographic and population analysis before creating constituencies.
Hon Mensah Bonsu postulated that the whole parliamentary practice must undergo reforms to enable the legislative arm to work more effectively .
He put it that the 3rd Republican Constitution had a process where all ministers were picked from outside parliament and this weakened the Limann Administration culminating in his overthrow in 1981 when his own Members of Parliament rejected his financial budget in December,1980.
So the 4th Republican Constitution allowed the president to appoint ministers from within and without and he stressed that this has stabilized our democracy for 29 years. But even with this, he said that parliament is playing second fiddle to the Executive as a result of the Executive powers.
He noted that the president has the sole right to appoint the best materials from parliament which invariably weakens the legislature. This is because most MPs depend on the president for ministerial appointments. He therefore pointed out that for parliament to have effective committees, the Constitution must be re-looked to enable parliament work efficiently.
He assured the newsmen that parliament has been working hand with the Executive and the opposition to ensure effective democracy. The minister told the Press that he has been holding meetings with the opposition to dialogue and there is consensus building than never before.
The Hon minister said this did not happen when he was a Minority Leader from 2008 to 2016. The minister used the occasion to explain so many issues about Parliamentary proceedings, emoluments, attrition rate, business in the House, etc. He also told the press about the working relationship between parliament and Civil Society Organizations, Council of State, Advocacy Groups, the Executive, etc.
