Clock-in devices not panacea for MPs lateness, absenteeism – ACEPA

The Executive Director of the Africa Center for Parliamentary Affairs(ACEPA), Dr. Rashid Draman says installing clock-in devices in parliament to check MPs absenteeism and lateness as proposed by the speaker of Parliament, will only achieve little vis a vis the problem at hand.

According to him, the onus lies on the speaker of parliament to strictly enforce the laws as it is in the standing orders of parliament rather than installing clock-in devices, which will actually not solve the problem.

“The proposal is a good one but I don’t think is going to get anywhere….We know the MPs who don’t show up in parliament, we don’t need any clock-in machine to tell, us who shows up and who doesn’t show up” he told Accra-based 3Fm.

The Speaker of parliament, Prof Mike Aaron Ocquaye addressing some selected Journalists in Accra, revealed that parliament is in the process of procuring some clock-in devices to curb perennial lateness and absenteeism of MPs.

The move according to him, will help expose MPs who attend to the business of the house late.

“Very soon there will be clocking machines and MPs will clock in [when they arrive] and clock out. So, there will be a record as it is being done in other parliaments,” he said.

However reacting to the speaker’s proposal, Dr. Draman said “I believe the solution lies more in the right honourable speaker doing what the standing orders enjoins him to do, and I think that, that is the solution. Because people can come and clock-in and just walk into the chamber and walk out and later when it is time to clock-out they come and clock-out”