NPP Primaries: “We can’t continue rejecting experienced MPs” – Majority Leader

Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu believes kicking out experienced legislators impedes effective parliamentary works.

The just-ended NPP parliamentary primaries saw 40 incumbent MPs lose their seats, including some who chaired the various parliamentary committees.

Mr. Mensa-Bonsu cited the losses of Ben Abdallah Banda, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Dr Assibey-Yeboah, Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, as bad examples for the country’s governance.

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“We can’t go on like this,” the Majority Leader told TV3, insisting a four-year mandate is not enough for any MP to make an impact.

“Building the capacity of a Member of Parliament is not a four-year matter; it is not even an eight-year matter. The axiom is that in parliament, the longer a person stays the better he becomes.”

Mr. Mensah-Bonsu, who is the MP for Suame, further suggested that experienced MPs must be protected to ensure continuity in Parliament.

The ruling NPP will have a lot of new faces as parliamentary candidates during the December polls, following losses to Frederick Opare Ansah, the Chairman of the Communications Committee and Collins Owusu Amankwaah, the Chairman of the Government Assurances Committee.

Other incumbents who lost their seats are William Quaittoo Agyapong, the Chairman of the Education Committee, and Alex Agyekum, the Chairman of the Youth and Sports Committee.