10 Ghanaian politicians who have been in the game for more than 15 years

Members of Parliament in the Fourth Republic has shown that the leadership in the House has over the years acquired vast experience which has benefited their parties and the legislature.

As Ghana readies for the December 7 general elections, Ghanaians have predicted that they may lose some of the experienced MPs.

Pulse.com.gh lists 10 Ghanaian politicians who have been in the game for more than 15 years in the country.

Alban Bagbin

Alban Bagbin, one of the oldest members of parliament in the Fourth Republic, entered the House from obscurity as he was only known by his colleague lawyers during his private practice from his law firm, Law Trust.

Bagbin announced his intentions to run for president in 2008 on the ticket of the NDC but he never stood for the primaries.

He became the Majority Leader in parliament in 2009. Following a cabinet reshuffle in January 2010, he was appointed Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing by the late President Atta Mills.

He has served notice that he will retire after his current term, which ends this year.

Alban Bagbin Pulse Ghana

He contested the flagbearer position in the NDC after nursing presidential ambitions but lost to former President John Mahama in 2019.

He did not take part in the NDC primaries in the constituency, which was won by Sumah Mwinkaara.

Haruna Iddrisu

He's the member of Parliament for Tamale South and currently the Minority Leader of the 7th Parliament. Iddrisu was the National Youth Organiser for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) since 2002.

He was active in student politics and was the President of the National Union of Ghana Students during his final year. Iddrisu is also a barrister and has been a member of the Ghana Bar Association since 2002.

He stood for parliament in the 2004 parliamentary election in the then newly formed Tamale South constituency.

Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu Pulse Ghana

He retained his seat in the 2008 parliamentary election. He has held various positions in government, including Minister for Communications under the Mills and Mahama governments as well as Minister for Trade between 2013 and 2014.

He was appointed the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations by President Mahama in July 2014.

Inusah Fuseini

Inusah Fuseini is the Member of Parliament for Tamale Central and the former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.

He won the seat via a by-election after Wayo Seini defected from the NDC to the NPP.

Inusah Fuseini is the Ranking Member on the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee and serves on two other committees.

Inusah Fuseini ece-auto-gen

In 2019, he announced his retirement that he won't seek re-election.

K.T Hammond

He is the Member of Parliament representing Adansi-Asokwa constituency of the Ashanti Region of Ghana in the 3rd, 4th,5th,6th, and 7th Parliament of the 4th Republic of Ghana.

He is a member of the New Patriotic Party.

He became a member of parliament from January 2001 after emerging winner in the general election in December 2000.

He has since then had a run of five consecutive terms in office. He is the MP for Adansi-Asokwa constituency.

K.T. Hammond ece-auto-gen

He has been elected as the member of parliament for this constituency in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh parliament.

He was a member of the Finance Committee, and Mines and Energy Committee in the 7th Parliament of the 4th Republic of Ghana.

Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu

He entered the House as a member of Old Tafo Suame in 1996 but now represents Suame since the constituency was split.

He has served six terms in Parliament.

He is the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and an Urban Planner.

He is Chair of three Parliamentary Select Committees but serves on seven committees in total.

Before the NPP primaries, he advocated the protection of the leadership of the party in parliament.

Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader Pulse Ghana

He will again represent the constituency after contesting unopposed in the primaries of the NPP.

He is most likely to be in the next Parliament as he is contesting in a constituency in the Ashanti Region is the stronghold of the NPP.

Kennedy Agyapong

The maverick Member of Parliament was first elected in 2000 for the Assin North constituency.

He kept his seat in the 2004 and 2008 parliamentary elections.

In 2012, he was elected to the new seat of Assin Central and was re-elected in 2016.

He has served five terms in parliament.

He is a member of the House Committee and also Chairs the Local Government and Rural Development Committee.

He has made comments in the past, suggesting retirement, but contested unopposed and will represent his constituency on the ticket of the NPP in the next parliamentary elections.

Given that he is contesting in an NPP stronghold, he very likely to be in the next Parliament.

Kennedy Agyapong Pulse Ghana

Joseph Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo

Afotey-Agbo is a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the member of Parliament representing Kpone-Katamanso Constituency in the 4th, 5th, 8th, and the current and 7th Parliament.

He served as the Minister of States between 2009 and 2012. He also served as Regional Minister of Greater Accra Region between 2012 and 2014.

He was the Greater Accra Regional Minister of Ghana and prior to that, he was the Volta Regional Minister.

Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo was inducted into the Nungua Traditional Council as the regent of Katamanso in the Greater Accra region in 2017.

Joseph Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo Pulse Ghana

With chiefs unable to participate in partisan politics, he subsequently announced that he would not contest again as an MP.

Collins Dauda

He was first elected to parliament in the 1992 parliamentary election on the ticket of the NDC, making him the first MP for the Asutifi South in the Fourth Republic.

He, however, lost his seat in the 2000 parliamentary election due to an allegation that he had used ‘juju’ to kill his political rival, Prof. Gyan-Amoah, just a day before the general elections. He, however, regained his seat in 2004.

Between 2002 and 2004, when he was out of parliament, he was the Regional Chairman of the NDC in the Brong Ahafo Region.

He is currently the Ranking Member for the Lands and Forestry Committee.

Additionally, he serves on the Finance Committee and the Committee of Selection Committee.

Dauda is a former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and former Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing.

He is likely to be in the next Parliament given the pattern of the voting trend in the constituency.

Collins Dauda Pulse Ghana

Joseph Yieleh Chireh

He is a Ghanaian pharmacist, barrister, diplomat, and politician. He is the Member for Parliament for Wa West.

He was appointed by Jerry Rawlings as Upper West Regional Minister in his government in 1993.

He was subsequently made the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Algeria with concurrent accreditation to Tunisia, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, and Mauritania between 1997 and 2001.

In February 2009, he was appointed Minister for Local Government and Rural Development by the new President of Ghana, John Atta Mills.

On 4 January 2011, he was appointed Minister of Health by the President, John Evans Atta Mills in a cabinet reshuffle.

He was elected as the member of parliament for the Wa west constituency in the 2004 Ghanaian general elections.

He lost the NDC primaries to Executive Secretary to the former Inspector General of Police, Peter Lanchene Tuubo.