A lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Ghana, Prof Ransford Gyampo, has described as unacceptable, attempts by the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to force its interest on its Members of Parliament (MP).
According to him, lawmakers are elected to represent their constituents, thus, they owe their first allegiance to the electorate.
Speaking on JoyFM’s Super Moring Show, on Wednesday, he noted that the country will experience better growth if the needs of constituents are served.
“Before political parties were birthed, the concept of representation existed. Representation predates partisan politics,” he said on Wednesday.
His comments follow a meeting with the Majority Caucus on November 22, to find an amicable resolution to the impasse in the NPP Parliamentary group.
Some 98 NPP MPs have been demanding the immediate removal of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta accusing him of economic mismanagement.
The Party has resolved that the President will act on the earlier demands of the MPs after the 2023 budget has been read and appropriated.
In view of this, Prof Gyampo observed that the NPP and the President have prioritised their partisan interests over that of the populace.
“It appears that we may all have to abandon our various professions and join partisan political campaigns to get a ministerial appointment, because there is something there that when you just hold on to it becomes difficult to abandon,” Prof Gyampo told host, Winston Amoah.
The lecturer could not fathom why an “accomplished businessman” [Ken Ofori-Atta] does not want to heed calls for his resignation even from his “own camp.”
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He expressed surprise that a party that claimed to have ‘the men’, does not want to let go of one man who is accused of being the reason for the country’s current economic hardship.
“The issue about let’s allow him to read the budget, I mean anybody can read the budget. Budget preparation and this IMF negotiation are not done between the IMF and just one man.
“It’s done with other people. So, once a party has the men other people should be able to clearly step in to help,” Prof Gyampo said.