MPs are not development agents – Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

According to him, the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) are rather the ones responsible for development at the local level.

Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said this when he faced Parliament’s Appointments Committee for his vetting today, February 12, 2021.

Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader Pulse Ghana

He, therefore, called on MPs to desist from creating the perception that they are development agents in the minds of their constituents.

“It’s not only the members of the general public who think [MPs] are development agents, but our own conduct feeds into that, wrongly or rightly,” he said, as quoted by Citinewsroom.

“In high profile elections, it’s the face of the MP that’s out there. The MMDCEs, who are responsible for development at the local level, aren’t elected, so people see [the MPs] as the face of the area.”

The Majority Leader added: “We should learn useful lessons from our own conduct. We need the NCCE as a House to help us educate the populace out there that the Member of Parliament is not really a development agent.

"But of course, it also depends to a large extent on how we conduct ourselves in our activities.”

Several MPs lost their seats during the 2020 elections, with their constituents accusing them of poor performance in road construction and other areas.