#NPPDecides: Quality of some MPs poor, some can’t even represent Ghana in Togo – Former MP

Ebenezer Gilbert Nii Narh Nartey, the former MP for Ablekuma Central, has expressed concern over the calibre of individuals being elected to the parliament to legislate for the country.

He lamented that the new MPs replacing their predecessors have fallen short of expectations, pointing out that there is a deficiency of legislators with intellectual depth in the current parliament.

In an interview on NPP’s Election Coverage on Citi FM, the former MP underscored that some current MPs lack the competence to effectively represent Ghana, even in missions to neighbouring countries such as Togo.

Mr. Nartey attributed the subpar quality of MPs to the prevalence of vote-buying, emphasizing that, in many instances, the highest bidder secures the votes, often at the expense of more experienced lawmakers.

He expressed scepticism regarding the proficiency of the current MPs in representing their constituencies compared to those in the 7th parliament.

“Now the politics that we are doing, if you don’t have the resources, you might not get the quality people. It’s the money game now. In the 7th parliament, I saw the aggressiveness of the first-timers that went to parliament on both sides, from 2017 to 2021.

“I have seen the first-timers of this parliament. And I have seen those who are going to replace certain people who are not running again. Honestly, there are certain people in Parliament today who cannot represent us [Ghana], not even in Togo. I’m telling you. If Speaker Alban Bagbin says that I want you to go and attend this programme in Togo on behalf of Ghana, they cannot. That’s my worry,” the former legislator pointed out.

He called for the sensitisation of polling station executives by the various political parties to ensure that they elect quality breeds of MPs.

“The parties we belong to need to do a serious candidate search. We also need to educate polling station executives. They need to know that it’s not about the person who is giving you GHC10. But the person who is going to represent the party, the government as well as the country. Parties need to do proper research, we need to do a lot of investigations about the candidate,” he opined.