MPs don’t have to be ministers, in my opinion – Afenyo-Markin
Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the majority leader and Effutu MP, has expressed his concerns regarding MPs taking on government roles.
Stakeholders have criticized Members of Parliament who occupy the position of Minister, claiming that they abandon their oversight duties to the detriment of their constituents after taking on the role.
Afenyo-Markin acknowledged the substantial amount of work still to be done while praising Parliament’s excellent performance thus far.
In an interview with Bernard Avle of Citi TV’s Point of View, Afenyo-Markin bemoaned the inefficiencies in governance brought about by members of parliament who hold dual roles as ministers.
He advocated for a future constitutional review to allow the president to exercise full executive authority by appointing ministers who are not MPs.
“There’s work to be done but the 8th parliament per my assessment has been the best so far. In terms of oversight, in terms of parliament assertiveness. And by the way, I am one of those who believe that we should have a full separation of powers.
“I don’t believe in an MP becoming a minister. I think that any future constitutional review creates space for the president to get his full executive authority, and get his ministers. MPs stay in parliament to do parliamentary business.
“I think that we create some inefficiencies in government by allowing that to happen. But it’s constitutional where the president is even enjoined to get more than 50% of his ministers to draw them from parliament. It’s a problem. Because the minister may be busy and would have to still come to parliament. And if you check the records, only a few ministers, get time for legislative work. Because they are committed to government’s policy implementation.”
He responded, “Oh yes, I have said that publicly and I repeat that,” when asked about his position on changing the constitution to remove the presidents’ 50% quota for selecting ministers from parliament.