Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, is upset with the increasing monetisation of political parties.
He warned that if care was not taken soon many institutions of government, especially Parliament, would be taken over by “people with fat wallets”.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu was speaking at a roundtable discussion organised by his ministry for the core leadership of parliament, in Accra.
The programme was under the theme: ‘Institutional credibility and democratic consolidation in Ghana-Parliament in focus’.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noted that elections at the grassroots and the parliamentary level were becoming increasingly monetised which gave cause for concern.
He asked that political parties concentrated not only on improving their structures but welfare of their members.
“The success, effectiveness, prestige of any institution rested on its orderly functioning, the extent to which it adhered to standards of discipline, dignity and decorum in the discharge of its duties.
“Building credible and durable institutions take time and after 25 years of the fourth Republic, it is time to take stock of the quality and credibility of institutions, especially the legislature.
“There are many factors affecting the image of parliament but the self-inflicted ones are more mortal, which exposes the House and its members to ridicule.
“Some MPs’ lack of knowledge of the rules, procedures and standing orders exposing their lack of interest in executing the mandate given them by their constituents, those who have spent considerable part of their lives building the institution of parliament, owed it a duty to ensure its sanctity.
“We owe it to the people to bring parliament closer to them so they can appreciate what we do and better understand our difficulties that will court their support and empathy,” Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stressed.
Yaw Osafo-Marfo, Senior Minister, pointed out that what parliament lacked as an institution was the institutional ability to supervise the finances of the country in terms of the budget.
Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader, called for the strengthening of democratic institutions and more value systems and cautioned that despite democratic gains, there still remained threats to sustenance of the nation’s multi-party system. -GNA
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