Member of Parliament for Atwima Kwanwoma Constituency, Kofi Amankwa-Manu, has highlighted how legislators are burdened by their constituents with almost every problem, including ones that fall outside their duties.
Speaking on Kumasi-based Hello FM in an interview, the MP who also doubles as a Deputy Minister for Defence recounted how he was once asked to ensure that weeds around a public toilet were cleared.
“I remember I went on rounds conducting community engagement… The people sent me, so whether good or bad I will go to them. I went to one community and do you know what they told me? They said their toilet is bushy so I should come and weed it for them.
"Yes, it was question time; they had the floor to ask questions and that was the question someone asked,” he narrated.
According to the MP, while he had to be patient to explain that the request fell outside his duties, he was perplexed to find out that the said toilet was a public toilet which was being used to generate money.
He thus expressed concern about what the money realised from the use of the toilet was being put to by members of the community.
“I had to be patient and explain to the person that it is not the work of the MP to come and weed their toilet for them, we have the assemblyman; that is his work.
"I even asked if they take money from users of the toilet and it was even the person collecting the money who asked me that question. I don’t know what they were using the money they make from the toilet for. Everything in the constituency is placed on the MP,” he noted.
Several MPs in Ghana and some political critics have serially raised concerns about the lack of understanding of the exact duties of Members of Parliament who have been turned into development agents.
Some have noted that MPs tend to get overburdened with issues outside of their core mandate, a situation which sometimes leads to corruption and lack of productivity on the part of the lawmakers.
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