Attendance key to determining retention of NPP MPs – Majority Leader

The Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has revealed that the retention of incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MPs) in the legislature will largely depend on their attendance to Parliamentary work.

This decision, he noted, has been affirmed by the leadership of the elephant family and will be implemented henceforth.

Addressing members of the Parliamentary Press Corps at the Meet-the-Press series facilitated by the Public Affairs Department, Parliament of Ghana, on Wednesday, Mr. Osei-Kyei-Bonsu said the move is geared towards mitigating the high attrition rate that has hit Parliament in recent times.

The measure is also meant to ensure the general improvement of attendance while also improving on the understanding of lawmakers on Parliamentary practices.

With the decision affirmed by the party, he said there is someone on their side who has been appointed to keep an eye on attendance of their Members to the House.

“A report on weekly attendance of Members is sent to the leadership of the party for action and this will be used to determining who should be retained or not”, he noted.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, who lauded the initiative being embarked on by the Majority Caucus, assured that his side will also take a cue and do same.

He noted that once the data is collated, they could then make a strong case to the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the political party they belong to, to make a final decision on it.