The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, is calling for a sustained national dialogue on the need to minimise the influence of money in determining who makes it to Parliament.
According to him, the emphasis should rather be placed on electing representatives with the requisite quality and competence to discharge legislative duties.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Ministerial Advisory Board of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu called on the members of the Board to help bring out the best in Parliament.
“Unfortunately, increasingly, emphasis is placed on the size of your wallet to get to Parliament and not what you have to offer. We must interrogate this. How can we reform or transform the system? How can we get to a point where people will be able to really enjoy the dividends of democracy?”
The leader of the Majority group of the 8th Parliament further advocated for a national development plan to give the national development agenda a source of direction.
“I keep saying that the development agenda of this country is set out in the directive principles of state policy as contained in the constitution. So all political parties are supposed to craft their constitutions around this. If we had a long-term national development plan, it would have been a source document. Unfortunately, the very composition of that national development plan is a source of worry.”