There should be inbuilt mechanism to protect hard-working MPs - Majority Leader

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader in parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has stated that it’s about time the NPP institutes an inbuilt mechanism to protect experienced MPs.

He described as a setback to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) the defeat of some experienced Members of Parliament (MPs) in their recent primaries.

“The longer one stays in Parliament, the better a material he or she becomes,” he said in an interview on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' morning show.

“We still have a crop of members on our side who need time to mature in the House, so it would not be helpful for the constituents to be changing them even in their third terms, but if another person is also qualified by the constitution to contest them, they must not be barred,” he argued.

According to him, there should be some form of inbuilt mechanisms that would ensure institutional renewal that will somehow seek to protect deserving and hard-working Members of Parliament, who are working for both parliament and their constituencies.

NPP Primaries

The NPP lost about 40 incumbent MPs in last Saturday’s primaries to choose parliamentary candidates for the 2020 December General Election.

Some of the casualties had served only one term in office, and, according to the Majority Leader, he hoped the situation would improve to help strengthen democratic dispensation.

Bigwigs chairing notable committees in Parliament and who succumbed to new entrants included Ben Abdallah, MP for Offinso-South and Chairman of Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, as well as Collins Owusu-Amankwaah, MP for Manhyia North and Chairman of Parliament’s Government Assurances Committee

He also expressed worry about the monetization of the party’s primaries, adding that it will spell doom for in the near future.