The Executive Director of the African Center for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), Dr
Rasheed Dramani has expressed worry about the growing number of incumbent
Members of Parliament (MPs) who will not be returning to the house in 2025.
About 18 New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs have decided not to seek re-election in the
party’s upcoming parliamentary primaries.
The list includes the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and First Deputy
Speaker of parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu.
In the last parliamentary primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC),
about 17 MPs lost in their bid to seek re-election.
The number is likely to go up after the January 27 NPP parliamentary primaries if
more incumbent MPs lose.
Speaking on Tamale-based Neesim FM’s current affairs program, ISSUES AT HAND,
Dr Dramani said the development will starve parliament of very experienced
legislators and create a huge void on both sides of the house.
“Certainly, it’s a big problem. In this country, we don’t have any mechanism in place
at the level of the political parties to prepare people to go to parliament. So, when
you have a situation where these people who have gained experience through doing,
through working as legislators over the years, those experiences are irreplaceable.
So, when we get to 2025, there is going to be a very huge void,” the parliamentary
affairs expert stated.
He advised political parties with representation in parliament to fashion out internal
mechanisms to, with the blessing of the rank and file of the parties, protect some of
the incumbent MPs to retain their seats.
“What this suggests to us is that our parties have to now start seriously thinking
about two things. The first thing; some kind of internal arrangement in terms of
what they want to achieve in terms of their legislative agenda, to begin to have a
way of saying there are certain seats that we need to protect and get the rank and
file of the party to have an internal conversation, open and transparent and
everybody will agree,” he argued.
Dr Dramani also posits that it is about time political parties put mechanisms in place
to groom young people to take over when the experienced MPs exit.
“The second thing is, for the longer term, may be for the parties to begin to have
some form of academy or some mechanism where young people can be groomed so
that they can get to participate and, in the event where experienced people are
going out of parliament, at least you will have people who will come in and ready to
take up the mantle,” he suggested.
Dr Dramani also implored the country’s universities to find a way of engaging the
retired MPs for the younger generation to tap into their experiences.