The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, says he is worried about the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Parliament over the exit of experienced lawmakers from the house.
Many seasoned legislators from both sides of the House –NPP and National Democratic Congress (NDC)– have either announced their decision not to seek re-election or defeated in their respective parliamentary primaries.
During the NPP’s primaries, 28 MPs lost their bid to return to Parliament. Before that, 18 NPP legislators, including Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, voluntarily opted out of the race.
16 incumbent legislators on the NDC side also lost their parliamentary bids in May 2023.
In an interview on GTV, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said political parties must have serious introspection on the disturbing trend.
“I am worried about the NPP, and I am worried about the Parliament of Ghana, and I am worried about our democracy. The longer a person stays in Parliament, the better the performance of that person. It is for him, it is for his party, it is for Parliament, and it is for our democracy.”
“Which is why what is happening certainly cannot be good. And I think that the parties, especially NPP and NDC, need to do some serious introspection about what is going on – this constant peeling of MPs,” he said.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu also condemned incidents of vote-buying that characterized the NPP’s parliamentary primaries.