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30.11.2022 Headlines

Being an MP is serious business; the responsibility of a Minister should not be attached – Sam Okudzeto

Mr. Sam OkudzetoMr. Sam Okudzeto
30.11.2022 LISTEN

A member of the Council of State, Mr. Sam Okudzeto has called for a review of part of the 1992 Constitution.

Particularly, he wants Article 78 (1) of the 1992 Constitution which states that Ministers of State shall be appointed by the President with the prior approval of Parliament from among members of Parliament or persons qualified to be elected as members of Parliament, except that the majority of Ministers of State shall be appointed from among members of Parliament to be review.

In his view, being in Parliament is serious business, and Members of Parliament should not bear the responsibility of serving as Ministers as well.

“I think that the error we made was that we were trying to mix the Westminster system of government and the presidential system of government. That is the mistake that we made in our constitutional process, so if that can be removed because being in parliament is a serious business.

“How on earth can you run a ministry as a minister and at the same time find time to represent your people in Parliament? You can’t,” Mr. Sam Okudzeto told TV3 in an interview on the Ghana Tonight show.

The Council of State member argued, “In fact, if you check the roster, you may find out that there are many ministers who seldom appear in Parliament yet that is their purpose of being elected as MPs, they were not elected to become ministers, they were elected to become MPs to represent the people.

“So I think that if there should be constitutional review the next time, there should be a separation so that those who want to represent the people should be in Parliament.”

In recent years, there have been similar calls for this part of the Constitution to be reviewed.

Unfortunately, successive governments are yet to take it upon themselves to change the status quo.

Eric Nana Yaw Kwafo
Eric Nana Yaw Kwafo

JournalistPage: EricNanaYawKwafo

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