News:
July 7, 2021
Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dayi, Etse Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor has noted that the perception that lawmakers are development agents in Ghana has come to stay.
According to him he doubts if the perception would change for MPs to stop moving around to source for funds for development and concentrate on their constitutional mandate to craft laws.
And cited Kenya, saying, “MPs in Kenya used to go through this until they had their constitutional reforms in 2010 and made MPs agents of development.
And argued that when President Akufo-Addo’s government introduced the one million one constituency policy, the proper entity to administer that fund was the MP, “so that you run a skeletal office, you then implement the project, you are then audited like any other entity, and when the audit is fine you are allocated funds at the end of the year then you continue because the expectation of the people have shifted from Assemblies”.
And added that, constituents see the MP as ‘bringer’ of hope for development, and elections of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) would not change the whole idea of seeing the MP as a development agent.
“Our people see the MP as the focal point because, MPs understand the dynamics of the localities properly, his/her political umbilical cord is directly link to the welfare of the people, when someone is sick and admitted they call the MP, when people go to farm and water separate their foot path they call the MP for a small bridge, when people want tractors to plough their farms, they call the MP so it’s the MP the MP and the MP”.
The South Dayi lawmaker emphasized that, to respond to the needs of Ghanaians, MPs needs to be resourced properly to be able to deliver on their mandate, “these things have become part of our mandate”, he stated.
Again, if you are MP you can stay in parliament, “if you like do not go to your constituency to do some of these things all your articulation and advocacy on the floor would come to not, in the other way let an MP stay in the constituency and have the resources throughout the year let parliament be marking him absent, if the people vote, they would still bring the MP back to parliament, despite the fact that he does not sit in parliament as he/she is supposed to be, that is the reality on the ground”, he emphasized.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com