NPP petitioned to stop gov’t appointees from contesting incumbent MPs

A member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Michael Botuo, has petitioned the leadership of the party to block government appointees from contesting seating Members of Parliament (MP). According to him, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Managing Directors (MDs) in charge of State Institutions are all appointees of the President; hence they must be disallowed. Speaking on Starr Today with Joshua Kodjo Mensah, Mr. Botuo explained that for most of these appointees, instead of concentrating on the nation's interest with their positions, they rather used it to cushion their targeted constituencies. "Before the 2020 elections, the leaders of our party came out with a communique that the MMDCEs who were Constituency Chairman, Regional Chairman, or whatever. If you want to contest as an MP in their constituencies, they have to resign two years before the primaries," Mr. Botuo stated. According to him, if the party has discovered that MMDCEs are giving problems to incumbent MPs, then CEOs and MDs should also be disallowed, adding that they are also part of the problems. "You are given a position to serve the whole country and not only a constituency. But these appointees normally think about how to become an MP. So they focus on the constituency of their choice; for example, MASLOC boss who wants to become an MP he or she will give his constituency executives allocations," Mr. Botuo stated. He continued: "If I am in charge of the Scholarship Secretariat, I have to focus on my constituency because I want to become an MP. So these things are giving the party challenges. Today, look at our economy, and the President has accepted that truly there is a challenge." The concerned member added that the party will have serious challenges if the National Executive Committee allows CEOs to contest incumbent MPs ahead of the 2024 elections.

A member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Michael Botuo, has petitioned the leadership of the party to block government appointees from contesting seating Members of Parliament (MP). According to him, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Managing Directors (MDs) in charge of State Institutions are all appointees of the President; hence they must be disallowed. Speaking on Starr Today with Joshua Kodjo Mensah, Mr. Botuo explained that for most of these appointees, instead of concentrating on the nation's interest with their positions, they rather used it to cushion their targeted constituencies. "Before the 2020 elections, the leaders of our party came out with a communique that the MMDCEs who were Constituency Chairman, Regional Chairman, or whatever. If you want to contest as an MP in their constituencies, they have to resign two years before the primaries," Mr. Botuo stated. According to him, if the party has discovered that MMDCEs are giving problems to incumbent MPs, then CEOs and MDs should also be disallowed, adding that they are also part of the problems. "You are given a position to serve the whole country and not only a constituency. But these appointees normally think about how to become an MP. So they focus on the constituency of their choice; for example, MASLOC boss who wants to become an MP he or she will give his constituency executives allocations," Mr. Botuo stated. He continued: "If I am in charge of the Scholarship Secretariat, I have to focus on my constituency because I want to become an MP. So these things are giving the party challenges. Today, look at our economy, and the President has accepted that truly there is a challenge." The concerned member added that the party will have serious challenges if the National Executive Committee allows CEOs to contest incumbent MPs ahead of the 2024 elections.