Out gone Majority Leader and now 2nd Deputy Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has bemoaned the high attrition rate of Members of Parliament after every general election.
He believes that the situation if not checked will hinder the gains the Parliament of Ghana has made so far.
Bagbin made this appeal in his closing remarks ahead of the dissolution of the Sixth Parliament of the Fourth Parliament on Friday, January 6, 2017.
Available statistics indicate that the average attrition rate of Members after every general election is about 50%.
In the just ended Sixth Parliament of the Fourth Republic, a total of 145 out of the 275 Members loss their seats, most of whom were first MPs.
That means the Seventh Parliament has 130 new entrants including about four returning Members.
On the Minority now Majority front, a total of 42 out of the 122 Members did not return to Parliament. This figure includes those who loss primaries, the parliamentary poll as well as retiring Members. That means the NPP have 80 continuing MPs out of the 169 they have in their fold as Majority Caucus.
On the Majority now Minority front, 65 Members are continuing MPs while a 41 are new breed Members. This means that the NDC has loss as many as 83 Members including those who loss the primaries as well as the parliamentary poll and those who retired.
In the view of Bagbin, the only available solution to the anomaly is continuous training, believing that the Parliamentary Training Institute is a timely intervention and prayed that Leadership and the Parliamentary Service Board will do everything to ensure it remains relevant and responsive to the needs of Members and staff.
Bagbin’s concern seems to also be the worry of the Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu now the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business too.
“This outrageously high attrition rate cannot facilitate the growth of Parliament. It cannot proficiently grow our democracy; neither can it adequately grow our parties. The political parties need to do serious introspection and reflect on their respective constitutions,” he noted.
With the current breed of stock, Bagbin is the lone ranger among 275 Members who has survived from 1993.
