Politics
Asokwa MP wants constitutional review for stringent legislative oversight duties
Member of Parliament for the Asokwa wants a review of a section of the Parliamentary Act which mandates the President to appoint a majority of Ministers of State from parliament.
Patricia Appiagyei believes the current law on ministerial appointments as provided in Article 78 clause 1 does not allow the Legislature to conduct oversight duties to properly demand accountability from the Executive.
According to the legislator, the law, coupled with politicization of issues of national interest and financial challenges encountered by the Legislature, restrict a definite separation of powers.
Her comment comes at the heels of the 2022 Africa Open Parliament Index (OPI) which ranked Ghana’s parliament as the best amongst 13 countries in Africa but scored lowest points in terms of Public Accountability.
Article 78 (1) of Ghana’s 1992 constitution provides that Ministers of State shall be appointed by the President with the prior approval of Parliament from among members of Parliament or persons qualified to be elected as members of Parliament, except that the majority of Ministers of State shall be appointed from among members of Parliament.
Patricia Appeagyei says the dual responsibility of parliamentarians who double as Ministers of State affects perfect execution of their duties.
She believes a well-resourced parliament could hold the Executive to task.
“You cannot scrutinise the activities of the various sectors to their perfection because you overseeing this responsibility will at the same time go to these ministers for favours from such institutions. When Ex-President Kuffour was leaving office, one of the suggestions he made was for us to ensure separation of powers works within our governance system. If a minister is not a member of parliament and we are seriously overseeing their activities and we are adequately resourced, there no way we cannot oversee their activities with a lens that would ensure accountability,” she said.
The former Kumasi Mayor also decried the partisanship of national issues on the floor of parliament which she argues affects the implementation of policies beneficial to the country.
She says over-politicization during parliamentary proceedings hampers the execution of the primary functions of the legislature.
Demands by party faithful and some citizens during electioneering are also a worry for the legislator.
“You go out there and all that people will be requesting from you is money. So by the time you’re done with your elections you are indebted. How can this situation not make a parliamentarian incorruptible? We as a people must change our attitudes,” she said.
Open Parliamentary Index
Ghana’s Parliament was ranked first among thirteen African countries in the 2022 Africa Open Parliament report by the joint work of the Africa Parliamentary Monitoring Organisations Working Group.
Garnering an overall score of 63.03 per cent based on Transparency, Civic participation and Public Accountability, the country beat its closest contender Cape Verde, which managed a 61.86 per cent and Sierra Leone, that scored 57.97 per cent.
However, Ghana scored lowest on public accountability with 14.32 per cent out of 30 per cent while it scored highest in the transparency category with 27.71 per cent out of the 35 per cent allotted to that category.
It scored 21 per cent for civic participation out of 35 per cent total scores for that area.
The Africa OPI comprises popular parliamentary monitoring organisations, namely; Mzalendo Trust (Kenya); Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana); and Parliamentary Monitoring Group (South Africa).
The others included; the Africa Parliamentary Press Network (APPN); the Pan African Parliament Civil Society Forum, which is coordinated by the Centre for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria, and Parliamentary Network Africa.
Politics
We control one-third of NPP; No major decision can be taken without consulting us – Ken Agyapong
Assin Central Member of Parliament Kennedy Agyapong says his performance at the just-ended New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential primary shows that he is a force to be reckoned with and that no major decision can be taken by the party without consulting him.
Mr. Agyapong made the comments on Saturday, November 11, during a “Showdown” Thanksgiving party organized for his supporters and coordinators during the NPP presidential primary campaign.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia won the presidential primary with 118,210 votes, representing 61.47%, while his closest contender, Mr Agyapong, polled 71,996 votes, representing 37.41%.
Speaking at the party, Mr Agyapong thanked his campaign team and said that he was “underestimated” ahead of the primary.
“They underestimated us, but we’ve proven to them that we now control one-third of the NPP,” Mr. Agyapong said. “No major decision will be taken without consulting us.”
Mr. Agyapong added that he had been underestimated by many, including a pastor who predicted that his best performance would be 16%.
“There was this pastor who even said if I get more than 16 percent, he [pastor] should be killed,” Mr. Agyapong said. “But today, I am praying for that pastor, that God should grant him long life and he should not die soon.”
The showdown Thanksgiving party brought together in Accra all coordinators of Mr. Agyapong from every region in Ghana.
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has been elected to lead the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for Election 2024 as flagbearer.
It had been predicted Bawumia was going to win with a larger margin but as promised, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong gave him a “showdown”.
Ken Agyapong, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central came second with 37.41%.
Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto came third with 0.76% while Francis Addai Nimoh was last with 0.41%.
The Institute of Research Innovation & Development at Kumasi Technical University, in its latest poll, has disclosed that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia stands a greater chance of winning the upcoming New Patritoc Party (NPP) flagbearer race as he will most likely secure an overwhelming victory in eight regions.
Ahead of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential primaries on Saturday, November 4, many researchers have tipped Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as leading the race, with Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong being his closest contender.
The latest to conduct a poll on the upcoming election is the Institute of Research Innovation & Development at Kumasi Technical University.
The director of the Institute, who is the lead researcher for the poll, Prof. Smart Sarpong, in an interview with Citi News, disclosed that 15,595 NPP delegates were engaged.
He noted that the key components considered among the four aspirants were who is the most unifying, who has the most visible leadership qualities, who is most likely to break the “8,” as well as non-policy factors such as religion and ethnicity were taken into account.
Prof. Smart Sarpong disclosed that 71.1% of the respondents said Dr. Bawumia has a higher chance of breaking the “8,” while 26.8% of them stated that Kennedy Agyapong stands a better chance of breaking the “8.” 1.8% and 0.3% chose Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto and Mr. Addai Nimo, respectively.
69.9% also described Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as the most unifying, whereas 19.4% said Kennedy Agyapong is the most unifying. In terms of being the most unifying, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto had 8.5%, while Francis Addai Nimo had 2.2%.
In terms of being the aspirant with the most visible leadership qualities, 70.5% of the delegates engaged chose Dr. Bawumia, and 19.4% mentioned Mr. Kennedy Agyapong. 8.1% and 2.0% of the delegates chose Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto and Addai Nimo, respectively.
With respect to how religion or ethnocentrism can influence the choice of vote, 13.4% said religion would be taken into consideration, while 86.4% said they would not consider religion. 13.8% of the delegates said they would strongly consider ethnicity, while 86.2% said they would not consider one’s ethnic background before voting for them. 97.1% noted they would take into account the past record of each person before voting for them, while 2.9% said that factor would not be considered.
Out of the 16 regions and the one national headquarters, Prof. Smart Sarpong revealed that Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has a commanding lead in eight (8) regions with an average of 81.9%.
“Out of these 17 clusters (the 16 regions and the NPP national headquarters), I see 8 of the clusters being already decided. The Vice President has taken a very good lead. Those regions include; North East, Northern region, Upper East and Upper West, Ashanti, Bono, Eastern, and Volta.”
Prof. Smart Sarpong further noted that their research predicts that the election would be open in five regions, as none of the aspirants has a clear lead.
He, however, noted that the work the aspirants put in a few days before the election could change the dynamics.
“It is 50/50 for any aspirant who works extra harder. Those 5 regions include the Western region, Savannah region, BonoEast region, the party headquarters, and Western North.”
The research also showed that Mr. Kennedy Agyapong could have a clear lead in four other regions if he works harder, as he is leading with an average of 49.6%.
“The following regions have the potential of going for Hon. Ken Ohene Agyapong. They are likely going to go for him. It doesn’t mean he should go to sleep on them. He should try and consolidate whatever gains he has in these four regions. So, Hon. Ken and the team, Oti region, Greater Accra region, Central region, and Ahafo region.”
Reacting to the latest poll, the spokesperson of the Kennedy Agyapong campaign team in the Ashanti region, William Kusi, insists that despite the research stating that their candidate is not strong enough in the Ashanti region, their own poll states otherwise.
“Our candidate, for instance, has combed the whole country, and we as a campaign team have also done a lot of work, especially in the Ashanti region. We have heard of the sponsored polls that have come out and are giving Dr. Bawumia the lead, but we disagree because on the ground, we are far ahead.
For instance, our internal polls suggest that we are going to have 75-80 percent support in the Ashanti region. So, when I heard of the polls from the one who always fails, Ben Ephson, for instance, I was like, what is happening? Smart Sarpong at the regional level did so well with his polls. It was accurate, but he is getting it wrong this time,” he said.
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