The Member of Parliament for Anyaa- Sowutuom Constituency, Dr. Dickson Adomako Kissi, says the Legislature must be adequately resourced to aid them in discharging their duties.
This comes after calls from well-meaning individuals and groups, including the Minority and the Ghana Pentecostal Charismatic Council (GPCC), for a reduction in the size of government in the face of the country’s economic crises.
Wading into the discourse on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on March 17, 2023, Mr. Adomako Kissi although agrees with the call for downsizing government thinks that their role demands a lot of responsibilities hence the need to resource them adequately.
“It is not a case that I can’t do my job. If you resource me well, I can do a lot. So I am of the opinion that if Government should resource members of parliament very well, we will and I’m very certain that we will be able to absorb the shocks of the job and then execute appropriately,” he noted.
He also argues that their dependence on the Executive interferes with the manner they discharge their duties.
“Unfortunately too, sometimes, it gets mixed up. Either you are necessarily in support of what governmental or executive decisions or not and how that gets you on the wrong side of the executive. So we even as parliamentarians need to work hard to make sure that our independence from the executive is strengthened.”
He called for enough administrative work and subsequent assessment and not to reduce their work to the number of social events they attend, which in his words are minor duties required of them.
He also urged the government to be cognisant of the size and population of the various constituencies and not be melted by the equity narrative.
But, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says his interest is not in just the size of government.
He wants the government to focus on leadership, personal values, and integrity.
“We are all being forced to drift towards that, I would have thought that we place more emphasis on leadership, on personal value, personal integrity which should then be the guiding force which will not make us become….”
He, however, stated that he disagrees with the Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo Markins on his call for a second or an upper chamber.
By Leonora Enyonam Annoh | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana
