NPP MPs who lost their seats must not be rewarded with ministerial appointments - Awudu Mahama

Managing Editor of The Custodian Newspaper, Awudu Mahama, has said Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who lost their seats do not have any business being part of the new Government under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

According to him, these MPs have not proven beyond doubts that they can be rewarded with ministerial appointment in the new Government.

Speaking in the special ‘Editors’ Take’ edition of the Happy Morning Show, he told Samuel Eshun: “If you were a minister in the previous administration and you were not given an opportunity as an MP and you lost your seat, I don’t see why you should be rewarded in the next administration because your activity or inactions have brought the party down; reducing the number of MPs to this level. But I have no power to decide who becomes a minister. It is in the power of President Akufo Addo to choose who becomes a minister to form his cabinet. But if it was me, if you were a minister and an MP and you lost in the last election, you have no business being in Government in this administration”.

He envisaged that under the new administration, the number of ministers will be reduced considering that the NPP MPs in parliament have reduced. “You cannot risk that the majority of your ministers will come from parliament. If you have a decision on the floor of parliament you will be tight because your ministers might be in other state engagements. So obviously, ministers as we expect, the number will reduce”, he added.

He expressed hope that the President “will choose ministers who will help him” in the running of the state.

Ghanaians on Monday, December 7 2020 voted in a generally peaceful process to elect their members of parliament and the president of the country.

A lot of incumbent members of the two major political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lost their seats. At least 28 incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) legislators lost their parliamentary seats in Monday’s elections. Some 21 of them were either ministers, ministers of state or deputy ministers. Some notable figures like George Andah, Barbara Oteng Gyasi and Titus Glover lost their seats.